Tough as barbed wire and just as tightly strung, Phoebe Siegel is a cop turned private detective with too much past, too much family, and a talent for diving too deep into a case. Bob Maitland is the golden boy of Montana politics, poised to run for governor. There's just one loose end in his life--the 27-year-old killing of his heiress

wife, Ellen, which was never solved. Maitland wants Phoebe Siegel to find the long-missing construction worker who either committed or witnessed the murder. Phoebe, no fan of Maitland's style, promises only to think it over. After Maitland trumpets their supposed agreement to the press, Phoebe hears from another potential client. Frank Chillman swears Ellen Maitland's murder and the murder of his prostitute sister, one day later, are related. Before Phoebe can even check out his story, he's found shot to death. With a dead man for a client, she plunges into the case, trying to find the connection between a rich wallflower and a hard-luck call girl who died three decades ago. The trail is long cold, but it heats up quickly as someone starts stalking Phoebe, with another killing in mind....