It begins as a routine investigation - an apparent accident has to be checked since there's a lot of insurance money involved. It turns out to be murder, and David Brandstetter has to find out who wanted John Oats dead, and why.

But he is not prepared for the morphine ring an blackmail racket he uncovers. Southern California, is seems, is full of suspects. And when one of them confesses, Brandstetter's headaches really begin: Why should Oats' son admit to a crime he couldn't have committed?

Struggling through hostility and lies, burdened by the complications of his own love affair, it takes Brandstetter a long time to arrive at the truth in this tightly constructed, wickedly complex thriller.