Jake Boyette is a homicide detective in Covington, Louisiana, a town just across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans. He is also a single-parent of a pretty daughter who has just enrolled in LSU in Baton Rouge. Early on a Sunday morning, fishermen working the Lake dredge up a body. Murders, particularly horrific murders such as this, do not happen that often in St.Tammany Parish.The horribly dismembered body offers very little in the way of physical data and refuses to yield its identity. The case appears to be at a dead end. Jake is aided by an ex-cop, Rufus Johnson with his own background shrouded in mystery and a personal vendetta ongoing and a pretty, recently arrived in the area, newspaper reporter for the Times-Picayune, Julia Steiner. She, of course is definitely aware of the high profile case and what it might mean to her career.Boyette and his team at last find clues to the girl's past. It looks like he has found himself in the middle of a sex-for-hire ring. Further investigation reveals the body may be that of girl from one of the local colleges. Discovering the identity is no small task, there are many schools and colleges in the surrounding districts. As the case continues to develop it appears to be pointing towards local businessmen and social luminaries, not only in the immediate area, but possibly all the way up to the Governor's mansion in the state capital.As Jake and his crew start to dig ever deeper into the soft crust of local power, his world is turned upside down by a personal threat. He is now fighting against a time limit. Can he solve the case before his deadline runs out?
