No one would accuse V. I. Warshawski of backing down from a fight, but she’d happily avoid tangling with Chicago political bosses. Yet that’s what she ends up doing when she responds to a plea for help from an old high school flame, Frank Guzzo. Frank’s mother Stella was convicted of killing his kid sister, but now that she’s out of prison, she’s looking for exoneration. Even though the Warshawskis and Stella never got along, V. I. agrees to make a few inquiries after she sees how hard life has been on Frank and her other childhood friends. Only, that small favor leads her straight into the vipers’ nest of Illinois politics—and soon her main question isn’t about Stella’s case but whether or not she’ll make it out of this investigation alive...


雖然沒人會責怪女神探在爭鬥中認輸，但她很希望可以不要與芝加哥那些政治首腦有所牽扯。然而，在她收到高中舊情人法蘭克的請託後，她別無選擇。法蘭克的母親史黛拉被控謀殺了他的妹妹，如今她出獄了，希望能洗刷自己的冤屈。雖然女神探和史黛拉根本處不來，但在她得知命運如何作弄法蘭克和她的兒時朋友後，她同意著手調查這個案件。這個請託讓她進到了伊利諾伊州政治圈的蛇蠍巢穴，不久後，她擔心的已經不是能否查明史黛拉的案件，而是自己能否全身而退。