Shamus Award-winner John Straley returns to his critically acclaimed
Cecil Younger detective series, set in Sitka, Alaska, a land of perfect
beauty and not-so-perfect locals.
Criminal defense investigator Cecil Younger spends his days coaching
would-be felons on how to avoid incriminating themselves. He even likes
most of the rough characters who seek his services. So when Sherrie, a
returning client, asks him to track down some evidence to clear her of a
domestic violence charge, Cecil agrees. Maybe he'll find something that
will get her abusive boyfriend locked up for good.
Cecil treks out to the shady apartment complex only to discover the
"evidence" is a large pile of cash--fifty thousand dollars, to be exact.
That is how Cecil finds himself in violation of one of his own maxims:
Nothing good comes of walking around with a lot of someone else's money.
In this case, "nothing good" turns out to be a deep freeze full of
drug-stuffed fish, a murder witnessed at close range, and a
kidnapping--his teenage daughter, Blossom, is snatched as collateral for
his cooperation. The reluctant, deeply unlucky investigator turns to an
unlikely source for help: the misfit gang of clients he's helped to
defend over the years. Together, they devise a plan to free Blossom and
restore order to Sitka. But when your only hope for justice lies in the
hands of a group of criminals, things don't always go according to plan.
