From one of America's leading mystery writers comes his tenth book tracking the life of our hapless private investigator Alo Nudger. Nudger, who is trying to make order in the chaos of the world around him, reluctantly takes a case from the swanky, seductive, sly Lacy Turnulty. The case: the client's daughter alone in her locked house, tripped on the stairs, fell, fractured her skill, and died. The police shut the case, but the deceased's father wants to open it and prove murder.