On their way home from a failed drug buy, Dupree Johnson and his cousin Lamont hitch a ride from a guy they know. There's another passenger in the car, Sean Finnegan, who has to make a stop at a house in the sleepy town of Columbia. They have no idea Sean is planning a break-in. In no time, all four are in jail being questioned by Columbia Det. Jimmy Dugan. Dupree and Lamont proclaim their innocence. All they were looking for, they tell Jimmy, was "a simple ride home." But Sean has information to trade. Much to Jimmy's surprise, he says the person at the house, Sal Pelagrino, is a local drug dealer and runs a crew. Meanwhile, Roberto Angelini, the owner of a hot, high-fashion beauty salon in New York is gunned down in the garage of his building. When the detective in charge, Morgan Flynn, discovers Angelini has a home in Columbia he calls Jimmy and asks him to do some digging. Jimmy and Morgan worked together before and since Jimmy isn't exactly swamped with criminal investigations - his usual day involves tracking down high school shoplifters and crime waves of stolen bicycles - he's happy to help out. In fact Jimmy is in something a funk over the way things are going for him: not only is his work uninspiring, but Felix, his aged cat and best friend, looks like he doesn't have long to go. The bright spots in Jimmy's life - his girlfriend Mary and her daughter Lucy - try to bolster him up as best they can. But what about Sal Pelagrino? Who is he? And who killed Roberto Angelini? Unraveling those stories takes Jimmy and the reader on an intriguing journey.