Gabriel Caine and Rachel D'arc are far from the dry New Mexico high desert city of Albuquerque and deep in the hot and drenchingly humid Upper Mississippi Valley of Illinois. There's no love lost between Gabriel and his jailed sister, the enmity starting back in high school and the violent incident that got him kicked out of town. But the aunt who raised Paula after their parents were killed has begged Gabriel to come back after a thirty year absence and investigate the bizarre murder of his sister's ex-husband. Gabriel and Rachel are shot at and missed, shot at and hit, as the case gets more and more dangerous, but ultimately the greatest threat may come from Gabriel's struggle with his own demons.D.J. Bart has long been known to readers of Mystery Writers of America anthologies, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and other anthologies.