Chain-smoking, deep-voiced fifteen-year veteran of the force Detective Mike Hoolihan is a tough woman. Now she has her worst assignment yet. Jennifer Rockwell—astrophysicist and darling of the community—had everything to live for: brains, looks, the world's best lover, and unlimited career horizons. When Jennifer takes her own life, no one is prepared to believe it—especially her top-brass career cop father, who is convinced it's murder. Hoolihan investigates, finds odd little facts, and concludes that Jennifer was leaving clues to something. But to what, and why? As Mike searches for answers and probes the secrets of the deceased woman's life, she is forced to re-examine her own, and the decision she makes at the end of her investigation says as much about her as it does about Jennifer.