Probation officer LP Cinch is burned out. Perpetually stuck on the bottom rung of the stairway to wealth, fame, and stature, Cinch's life is always "close but no cigar." But as his retirement day looms on the horizon, one of his probationers is murdered; suddenly Cinch's humdrum existence is much busier.
With the case at a dead end, Cinch is drawn into the task of solving the crime. He receives information that the probationer left a handbag behind and opens the bulky purse to discover the stuff dreams are made of: a bundle of bills totaling nearly fifty thousand dollars. While acquainting his replacement with the job and the parade of people in his world, Cinch sifts through a caseload that consists of the underbelly of society and soon unmasks a murderer. But something far more complicated remained unresolved-what should he do with the large sum of money now in his possession?
In this mystery laced with intrigue, humor, and high-stakes crime, a probation officer struggles with a life-changing dilemma as he finds out once and for all if he again comes close but no cigar.