A young woman has leapt to her death from Boston's landmark Custom House tower, and Kenzie is shocked to hear that she is one of his former clients, Karen Nichols.

An unpleasant visit from Kenzie and his explosive friend Bubba Rogowski had apparently been enough to deter the stalker, Cody Falk, an upscale predator with a long history of restraining orders.

Stung by his former client's death, Kenzie makes a quick investigation and finds that at the time of her call, Nichols had been experiencing a suspicious run of bad luck.

Her fiancé had been hit by a car and went into an irreversible coma from his injuries; she had lost her job while caring for him; and, according to the police, the pert young client Kenzie recalled as "someone who would iron her socks" had become a strung-out prostitute working from a cheap motel.

Horrified and fascinated, Kenzie embarks on the search for a vindictive mastermind who manipulated Falk and others in a complex scheme to destroy Nichols' life.