When home is anything but a haven ...

Detective Inspector Palmer yearns for a caseload of ordinary crimes—no monsters, no mages, and definitely no magic. Dark sorcery has left his city in bloody chaos, and Palmer is exhausted. But then Layla, one of the beauties from the notorious Hellion House, darkens his interrogation room door.

Lovely Layla is more welcome in Palmer's daydreams, where her obsession for silver bullets and sharp knives can be safely ignored. But now she brings news about his most-wanted villain—the mechanic responsible for sabotaging the Leopard and sending most of the airship's crew to a fiery death.

The evidence points to Palmer's home town—a rough-and-ready hellhole he'd gratefully left behind. Now, with Layla at his side, he returns to his birthplace, and to the scene of a half-forgotten murder. All at once, his freedom, his mission, and Layla's safety depend on solving the cold case. That's no mean feat in a town full of crooks, drifters, and broken-down magicians, but DI Palmer always catches his culprit.

Until now. Uncovering one deadly secret is sure to reveal others—including his own.