When New York's chief medical examiner is fired for alleged incompetence, his lawyer, Butch Karp, finds himself fighting City Hall. And meanwhile Karp's wife, Marlene Ciampi, has opened a private detective agency which specializes in protecting women from stalkers and abusers. Their new careers may seem miles apart, but questions soon arise that bring them closer together. What is the secret that two terrified children refuse to divulge? Why have the suspicious deaths of Guatemalan cab drivers in police custody remained uninvestigated? Who is responsible for the brutal beating of Marlene's close friend Ariadne, a feisty news reporter getting far too close to exposing dirty secrets? No government official, lawyer or cop is immune from suspicion as Karp and Ciampi swing into action on a trail of crime and corruption leading from the meanest streets of the city to the centres of power and privilege.