"People tend to laugh a bit, usually out of embarrassment, when they're taken by grifters and scam artists. But there's very little to laugh about in Rutherford, where a gang has hit town and has Jake Hines and his team spinning, trying to follow a trail of dodging and deceit." It stops being a game of catch-me-if-you-can, though, when the grifters' leader turns up dead and Jake finds his own life on hold as every moment is devoted to preventing a murder from turning into a bloodbath. With little energy left to deal with matters on the home front, Jake may be having trouble uncovering the truth about what's happening to his city, but he does learn that when it comes to hard bargaining and barter, his girlfriend, Trudy, possesses a surprising, and welcome, talent.

Genre: Mystery