When Aimee Leduc's godfather, Morbier, a police "commissaire," asks her to check on his girlfriend at her home there, Aimee finds Xavierre, a "haut bourgeois" matron of Basque origin, strangled in her garden while Aimee waits inside. Circumstantial evidence makes Morbier the prime suspect, and to vindicate him, Aimee must identify the real killer.

Aimée Leduc is about to go onstage to give the keynote address at a tech conference that is sure to secure Leduc Detective some much-needed business contracts when she gets an emergency phone call from her daughter's playgroup: Aimée's own mother, who was supposed to pick up Chloé, never showed. Abandoning her hard-won speaking gig, Aimée rushes to get Chloé, annoyed that her mother has let her down yet again. But as Aimée and Chloé are leaving...

"Parisian private investigator Aimée Leduc has been framed for the murder of her daughter's father--now she's on the lam, and must find the real killer to clear her name in this thrilling 21st installment of Cara Black's New York Times bestselling mystery series. Aimée Leduc's ex Melac, her daughter's father, has been hounding her for weeks, pressuring her to move little Chloe to Brittany, threatening to take her to court for custody--all but stalking...