Location is critical And in compulsively-competitive Silicon Valley no address is more highly-prized than tech-savvy, politically-correct, safe and secure Palo Alto, where the white-hot housing market inspires bidding wars, and money falls on the lucky seller like blood gushes from an open wound. Here, even a sweet deal can turn deadly Part-time P.I. Trucker Deal knows zilch about real estate until he agrees to help his girlfriend, Attorney Kim Lockwood, checkout the shocking death of an elderly client. Suddenly awash in a roily pool of predatory developers, pushy Realtors, tight-lipped loan sharks, an evasive millionaire who's a wannabe action hero, a defensive heir and her less-than-stand-up family, pin-striped thugs, a mightabe mother, and a very spooky bodyguard, Deal finds the real estate game so twisted and dirty that whodunit's the least of his problems as friends and enemies rev-up for a lethal clash When the high-bid rules, murder's the only bet, so slide by New Deal Investigations where stacked decks are routine, P.C. procedures are an afterthought, and results are what counts