Phoenix private detective Derrek Packer is transfixed by a story in the morning newspaper about the death of an unidentified teenage girl who had been raped, tortured, and beaten; then discarded alongside a country road in a neighboring county. That same day, he's employed by super-wealthy and super-beautiful Evelyn Noscutt, whose husband has run off with her classic sports car and one of the household maids.Packer's search for the husband leads him to the dead girl, a spider web of family secrets, and a dark world of murderers, sex traffickers, and self-serving politicians.Sit back and enjoy the ride.