"Sure-footed plotting and easy banter make Ramsay's sixth Sheriff Ike mystery a brisk, entertaining read." —Kirkus Reviews

On the same evening a body is left in Picketsville's urgent care clinic, a mysterious break-in occurs at the house of one of Callend University's faculty. Sheriff Ike Schwartz thinks both events might be connected to The Virgin of Tenderness, an icon in the faculty member's possession.

Then, what appears to be a microdot is found on the icon. In an era of sophisticated cyber-encrypted information transfer, the presence of this bit of CIA nostalgia brings in Ike's friend Charlie Garland and the forces from Langley.

Ike has no wish to engage with them or their problems. He has killers to apprehend—in spite of the meddling by government agencies. But there is more to these murders than meets the eye. A dead CIA agent and a rogue handler could trigger an international incident....