Mick 'Brew' Axbrewder has a lot on his mind. An alcoholic, he lost his private investigator's licence some time ago and now works in partnership with Ginny Fistoulari, a tough, capable P.I. with a soft spot for Brew. Brew and Ginny have an arrangement that she will never drag him out of a bar - so when she does just that, Brew knows it must be something serious. And it is. Brew's thirteen-year-old niece has gone missing. The police seem to be doing nothing - but then Brew's investigation uncovers a link with several other girls: they all went missing, sent a letter home, then turned up dead, full of heroin. Fighting the latest drinking binge, and desperate to stay off the bottle, Brew is determined to find his niece before it is too late . . .