California detective Matt Murdock has the biggest drug kingpin in Seattle on his tail in this "hard-nosed P.I. fare with romance singeing the edges" (Kirkus Reviews).

Rollie Nielsen, a smart college kid with a brain for chemistry, has just been killed, and his dad wants to know why. Enter Matt Murdock, a tough-and-tender private investigator who's willing to get his hands dirty in search of the truth. It turns out Rollie had a weakness for classy women and easy money, and the combination that led him to start a drug lab. No one knows exactly where he was working or what he was cooking—presumably meth, otherwise known as "ice."

Rollie pissed off a lot of bad guys on both sides of the law, who are now turning their attention to Murdock. Leaving behind a few bodies—some of them friends—Murdock departs smoggy Newport Beach, California, for cloudy Seattle, Washington, where he hopes to unearth Rollie's lab. With the help of wannabe detective Louie Chen and a sexy female acquaintance of Rollie's, Murdock just might succeed. That is, if he can keep his hide in one piece.

A Matt Murdock Murder Mystery.

"Good reading." —Kirkus Reviews