When private investigator V.I. Warshawski looks into the whereabouts of the father of a childhood friend, Caroline, she lets herself in for more than she bargained for. Her search dredges up her own childhood memories as well as something darker, especially when the body of another friend, Nancy, turns up.

With suspects ranging from a powerful alderman to the chairman of a chemical conglomerate, V.I. discovers a network of corruption which spreads across the industrial districts of Chicago to its Gold Coast. But how is Nancy’s death linked to the search for Caroline’s father

The deeper V.I. digs, the murkier things get, until she finds herself at the mercy of malevolent forces beyond her control…