Hours after a man discovers a secret destined to tear his family apart, Pia Sabel discovers his corpse.
As police chief of a small, peaceful town, Scott Jacobsen never expected to investigate his uncle's murder. Nor did he expect anyone to dig into his adoption or his family's ties to mobsters. Looming over his investigation, the town is desperately trying to land the Sabel Research Center and its high paying jobs. But did the mayor have to ask Pia Sabel herself to help him solve the case?
Working with the difficult and enigmatic Sabel is bad enough but now he has a Sophocles-spouting homeless lady as a witness; a stolen masterpiece as a possible motive; and a deadly gangster as a constant threat. Sabel keeps dragging him in incomprehensible directions, giving him reason to question her competence. Yet everything she does brings to light more long-buried secrets-one of which will change his life forever.
In a story that addresses the meaning of family, issues of loyalty, adoption, inclusion, and rejection arise in many different and unexpected ways.