Since Les Roberts first introduced him in Pepper Pike, the Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich and his creator have gone on to win the hearts of readers and reviewers alike with Roberts's affectionate portrayal of his rough-around-the-edges midwestern home. The brutal death of Virginia Carville, one of Cleveland's up-and-coming television reporters, shocks the city, and even ex-cop Milan is not immune. He had met the young woman on several occasions with his former lover, Mary Soderberg, the television station's top sales executive. Mary broke Milan's heart when she left, but now she's back to ask a favor. The police have as their chief suspect Steve Cirini, the station's sales manager and the man Mary left Milan for. Milan reluctantly agrees to take the job, and soon is up to his neck in big trouble.