Venus, who'd been in Asia for a few years, enjoys traveling to exotic places. What she does not enjoy, at the age of twenty-nine, is the prospect of returning to the home of her mother, Lady Bella Winsome-Diamond, a film legend with British royal ancestry, to endure no end of scornful comments about her single lifestyle, her job at Interior, or her Harley. But such is life. To make matters worse, Venus's irascible boss assigns her the murder case of a timber executive in Ozone Beach, Washington, a snooty Puget Sound resort town. The townspeople, Venus learns quickly, are averse to such outside intervention, and she's got her work cut out for her just staying out of danger. Threats she receives convince her they're hiding something - threats and the freshly mutilated bear carcass she stumbles upon in the woods. But the town's obstinance doesn't bother her too much; that's when Venus digs in her heels. She loves a fight.

Genre: Mystery