Juliet Kipper a gifted painter is strangled in the LA gallery where her first solo show has opened to critical acclaim & Milo Sturgis takes on the murder investigation as a favour to an old friend. He consults Alex Delaware who researching parallels with other deaths looks for artists killed when on the verge of a breakthrough or comeback. & he finds two others. The investigation points to a gruesome sadistic pattern of death taking Milo & Alex into the dark side of the art world & Alexs ex-lover Robin into terrible danger.