Private investigator Carl Boone finds himself pulled into the sexual undercurrent flowing through American culture in two unrelated cases.





His office is on solid footing, with Marianne Bell now working as his office manager and assistant. When the wife of a local publisher seeks his help in an extortion case, he is captivated by her extraordinary beauty, only to learn that beauty is not always what it seems.





At the same time, local attorney Clive Townsend, a significant source of business for Boone's office, seeks his help. A friend of Townsend's fourteen-year-old daughter faces a charge of second degree murder. His investigation develops in fits and starts, branching off into unexpected and, in Boone's case, dangerous areas. What looked like a case involving drug-fueled sex between two teenagers becomes something else entirely.