Barrachois overlooks the cold, watery edge of the world. It’s a small city crooked by necessity, but an oddly safe place–joyous, even. Until two little kids witness the death of the limping man.

With an unerring eye for period atmosphere, crime fiction writer D.E. Ring builds a layered, mesmeric portrait of a town thriving in the years after WW2. It’s pragmatic and unconcerned about its crooked tendencies. It’s a smuggler’s paradise, and the Mafia has long been involved.

But crime is changing with the times.

Newcomer Inspector Jimmy Urquhart, young veteran and rookie cop is not ready to be in charge of its highest profile criminal case in decades. But he is. The City Clerk–man of rectitude, polio survivor, photogenic favorite of press and public–has been run down in a wintry alley. Murdered.

In a place that just shrugs off larceny, this is different. Shocking.

As Jimmy and local reporter Alexandra MacDonald begin to peel back the layers, rumors swirl about the murdered man–of infidelities, of mob money, of secrets, and of violence. In the best golden age whodunnit tradition, the victim proves to be as elusive as his killer.