When the son of a prominent politician is murdered in his basement, Lt. Joe Kenda feels pressure from City Hall to solve the case.  To do so, Kenda must sort through a list of nefarious suspects, and delve deep into the victim's eccentric lifestyle.

The elderly owners of a beloved local grocery are brutally attacked and left for dead. Working with little beyond a vague witness description, Kenda leads a state-wide manhunt to catch a pair of cold-blooded killers before they disappear for good.