Allyn is an Edgar Award-winner. He's written a number of short stories featuring veterinarian David Westbrook. This is the first full-length work featuring this character. After a stint in jail, Westbrook moves himself and his one-eyed cat to Michigan to start over. Things go reasonably well until accident and fires, reminiscent of the Great Fires that ravaged the Midwest in the 19th century. One of the people killed in an old fire was Rachel Hayes. Westbrook gets involved with an investigation of the death of Hayes when other people start to die under very mysterious circumstances.