Susan Dunlap brings us a new novel featuring private detective - and former medical examiner - Kiernan O' Shaughnessy. Betrayed and set up to take the blame for a death caused by a deadly and highly contagious case of Lassa fever, Kiernan gets more than she bargained for when she responds to a call from an old college "friend." She knows that the death she's investigating could have truly dire consequences for the public if its cause is unleashed, inadvertently or otherwise. And the trail of clues she follows - from her base in San Diego to the Nevada desert - is agonizingly complex. Not helping matters is her houseman, the usually affable Brad Tchernak. Tchernak may be a marvelous cook, companion, and dog feeder. But he's feeling overlooked as a detective, and that has created tension between him and his employer. While Kiernan pursues her case, Tchernak takes on one of his own, investigating a hotshot geologist who has just returned from a potentially multimillion-dollar oil find in Central America.