Aided by his band of scruffy irregulars - "the Boys," a team of residentially challenged connoisseurs of inexpensive spirits who specialize in going unnoticed as they trail a suspect - Leo remains Seattle's most unorthodox and politically connected private investigator. Anticipating disaster, Le Cuisine Internationale, a prestigious global restaurant convention, hires Leo as its own Special Security Officer. His relatively simple assignment is to monitor the movements of the society's bone of contention: two adversarial steakhouse competitors, whose "beef" has previously made for some nasty confrontations; and the food critic who's caught in between the warring factions. Cleaning up the Boys, Leo sends them off to shadow the entourages and report back to him at day's end. What could be easier! But even the simplest of plans can cascade into catastrophe. Leo finds himself served up as the prime suspect in a murder, gets thoroughly grilled by the police, and realizes that both his life and career are at stake.