Burned out from his career as a successful Chicago homicide detective, Tony Deluca moves his family to Wisconsin to join the Madison Police Department. Soon after settling in, Tony is asked to lead the murder investigation of a university student. When the main suspect in the case disappears, Tony is forced out of his job and can only watch as the killer remains at large. Six months later, Tony's life is in turmoil, having to work as a security guard at a local university bar. The discovery of the body of a young lawyer from the Chicago State Attorney's Office appears to offer Tony the chance to redeem himself. With the aid of his former partners on both the Madison and Chicago police departments, Tony finds himself in the midst of a homicide investigation, which leads him back to the still-unsolved murder of the university student, and evidence which suggests a cover-up at the highest levels. Readers are kept guessing to the very end whether the murderers will be brought to justice.