Sergeant "Skeet" Collingsworth of the Virginia State Police, Frank's long-time friend, is discovered dead in his townhouse after an apparent suicide. Hailey Collingsworth, his younger sister, hires Frank to look into what she believes is a homicide staged as a cop suicide. He concurs with her suspicion. With no support from the state police's top brass, he delves into Sergeant Collingsworth's troubling demise and asks many hard questions.
On a rural backroad, Frank meets the ghostly Raven DeMille, a vintage film noir actress who offers him some insight. He identifies and targets several suspects before convincing Sergeant Collingsworth's protege, Trooper Pfister, to assist him. As he investigates the case further, he discovers a personal secret that the deceased cop kept from him for 25 years. Since Hailey needs to return home for her job, the investigation shifts into high gear to crack the mystery.
As always, Frank turns to his longtime friend and business partner Gerald Peyton; his medical examiner wife, Dreema; and his brilliant but outspoken attorney, Robert Gatlin. He works long hours to investigate these and other cases and resolve them in a thorough manner that is satisfactory to both his client and himself.
