Brand-new stories by: G.M. Ford, Skye Moody, R. Barri Flowers, Tom Hopp, Patricia Harrington, Bharti Kirchner, Kathleen Alcalá, Simon Wood, Brian Thornton, Lou Kemp, Curt Colbert, Robert Lopresti, Paul S. Piper, and Waverly Fitzgerald.

Editor Curt Colbert is the author of the Jake Rossiter & Miss Jenkins mysteries, a series of hard-boiled, private detective novels set in 1940s Seattle. The first book, Rat City, was nominated for a Shamus Award in 2001. A Seattle native, Colbert still resides in his hometown.

Then, Rossiter intercepts a death threat warning Miss Jenkins to back off the Hashimoto case, and Rossiter takes over the case to protect Miss Jenkins. But she doesn't believe he'll do enough work on it, and goes down to Chinatown to investiage, until she's ambushed and shot. Luckily, the bullet only grazes her, and Rossiter assigns one of his best operatives, Manny Velcker, to keep her out of trouble. Despite this, Miss Jenkins keeps dogging the case.

Bodies start piling up all over the place, including the shooter who tried to rub out Miss Jenkins, and a stripper named Bubbles LaFlamme, who, our detectives learn, was cozy with Henry Jamison. It seems that the bald, milquetoast Henry was quite the ladies' man. Rossiter discovers a cache of snapshots showing the mousy little Joe with bevies of scantily clad bimbos that would make even Errol Flynn green with envy. As the clues and danger mount, Rossiter and Miss Jenkins take more twists and turns than a rollercoaster, while struggling to help the Hashimotos. Jake still doesn't like Japs, but he develops a grudging respect for Frank Hashimoto, a bitter, decorated veteran who served with the famed 442d Regimental Combat Division in Europe.

In the end, Miss Jenkins forces a climactic confrontation at a gambling den in Seattle's Chinatown, which includes gun-play, flashing stilettos; a battle royale between the tall, tough ZaZu Pinske, and the pert, diminutive Miss Jenkins; and a tense showdown between Eddie Valhalla, Rossiter, and his old enemy, Captain Blevens. When the dust settles, the unexpected solutions to the tangled web of cases shock even a seasoned private dick like Rossiter.