All PI Tess Monaghan has to do is find some witnesses - that is, until the witnesses start dying . . .
Tess Monaghan has finally made the move and set herself up as a private investigator, complete with an office in Butchers Hill. Maybe it's not the best address in Baltimore, but it's a start.
Then into her office walks Luther Beale, the notorious vigilante who, five years ago, shot a boy for vandalising his car. Just out of prison, he says he wants to make reparations to the kids who witnessed his crime, so he needs Tess to find them. But once she starts snooping, the witnesses start dying. Is the 'Butcher of Butchers Hill' at it again?
Whether she likes it or not, Tess is embroiled in a case that encompasses the powers-that-be, a heartless system that has destroyed the lives of children, and a nasty trail of money and lies leading all the way back to Butchers Hill.
Before becoming a full-time novelist, Laura Lippman was a newspaper reporter for many years. She has won just about every crime writing award going, including the Anthony Award and non genre awards for Literary Excellence. She lives in Baltimore with her partner, the writer David Simon, and their daughter.