Early 1944. "A senator’s suicide attempt draws Helen Meeker and her associates into a mystery, taking the team from coast to coast digging for clues and dodging death on roads that seem to lead nowhere. The keys to this whodunit include a conman who’s trying to land the ultimate paycheck, a frightening revival of the Black Legion, a car wreck that is far more than it seems, a deserted home wired to explode, a life and death chase along an Illinois highway, and a heroic sailor blinded in battle. As always, Meeker locks horns with J. Edger Hoover and a host of others who keep underestimating the woman’s intelligence and determination."