When the police are called to a building on New Yorks Upper East Side Detective Mike Chapman & Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper respond quickly. A resident Tina Barr is alleged to have been assaulted but she refuses to co-operate with their enquiries. Within a day Alex & Chapman are back at the same building confronted with the body of a woman battered to death & with a mysterious jewel-encrusted book beside her. But the victim isnt Tina Barr & Tina has disappeared. The book is part of a rare collection at the New York Public Library & Alex & Chapman are plunged into the deadly world of the super-rich
- those who protect their fortunes & collections more carefully than other peoples lives.