The brutal murder of a prominent real estate developer stuns the ake community and sets faction against faction. PeteThorsen stays out of it; he's still nursing emotional woulds from a case a year earlier. Then the victim'swidow asks him to help sort out her late husband;s financial affairs. He reluctantly agrees, believing the strict groundrules he's set will keep him out of the fray. But in a shadowy world of dirty money, sinister motives and festering grudges, nothing is certain. Bad things begin to happen to him, and Pete is enraged when his teenage stepdaughter is used as a pawn in the deadly game. He relentlessly strips away the layers of deceit and finally discovers the shocking truth...and in the process, must confront his own demons.