They say blood is thicker than water. Private eye V. I.
Warshawski has her doubts, especial-ly when it comes to
the bad blood between her and her great-aunt Rosa. But
when the old lady reaches out, V. I. answers the call.
The good friars at St. Albertus Magnus Priory, Rosa’s
long-time employers, have cashed in on valuable securities
from their safe...only to discover they were counterfeits.
Suspended under a cloud of suspicion, Rosa wants V. I. to
clear her name. Exonerate a senior citizen who’s never
missed Sunday mass? Easy enough—or so V. I. thinks before
a mystery brought to her by new flame Roger Ferrant
crosses paths with Rosa’s case.
The deeper V. I. digs, the more someone wants her to take
her shovel and go home—someone who threatens to blind her
with acid, and won’t stop there. Because corruption’s
tentacles reach farther than V. I. imagined; from her
family to Chicago’s infamous Family…and from a monastery’s
hushed hallways to the highest echelons of the Church.