Former Seattle homicide cop J. P. Beaumont is learning to enjoy the new realities of retirement - doing morning crossword puzzles by a roaring fireplace; playing frisbee with his new dog, Lucy, a ninety-pound coal-black Irish wolfhound; having quiet lunches with his still-working wife, Mel; joyously waiting for his new grandson to arrive. Beau's also gotten his private investigator's license. It was Mel's idea; she knows that someday someone would desperately need his help. And sure enough, that day has arrived - but not in the way Beau expected. This time it's his own past that's come calling. An acquaintance from long ago, Alan Dale, shows up on Beau's doorstep with a newborn infant - his six-week-old granddaughter, Athena - asking for help. His drug-addicted daughter, Naomi, walked out of the hospital shortly after giving birth. Alan wants to take Athena home to Texas to raise her, only he can't leave Seattle with the baby until Naomi relinquishes her parental rights. She has to be found. In pursuing Alan's missing daughter, Beau finds himself pursuing an investigation with more curves and drops than a roller coaster. It's a search that turns his own life upside down - dragging his none-too-stellar past firmly into the present - and threatens to upend his hard-earned serenity. J. P. Beaumont has to contend with the fact that no matter how fast you run, you can't get away from what you've done...and that even in retirement, murder is still the name of the game.