A cheating husband and a wayward wife provide Spenser with an unconventional and dangerous surveillance job. When Marlene Cowley hires Spenser to see if her husband, Trent, is cheating on her, he encounters more than he bargained for: Not only does he find a two-timing husband, but a second investigator as well, hired by the husband to look after his wife. As a result of their joint efforts, Spenser soon finds himself investigating both individual depravity and corporate corruption.
In 1974, a revolutionary group calling itself The Dread Scott Brigade held up the Old Shawnut Bank in Boston's Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing traveller's cheques, was shot and killed. No one saw who shot her. Despite security camera photos and a letter from the group claiming responsibility, the perpetrators have remained at large for nearly three decades. Enter Paul Giacomin, the closest thing Spenser has to a son.
Spenser is asked to investigate when Robinson Nevins is denied tenure at the University, apparently due to a rumoured affair between Nevins and a young gay activist. The case turns deadly, and Spenser uncovers a conspiracy to keep America white, male and straight.
When Susan's ex-husband, Brad, appears after a decades-long absence, nearly broke and the object of a sexual-harassment suit, Spenser reluctantly agrees to help. As he investigates the circumstances surrounding the suit, he discovers that fund-raiser Brad is swimming in very deep water: mobsters, who were using his fund-raising campaigns to launder money, have discovered he was cooking the already cooked books and aren't at all pleased. The deeper Spenser digs, the more bodies he uncovers and the more culpable Brad appears to be.
Spenser is hired out on a marital matter that entangles him with the mob. When Boston hoodlum, Julius Ventura, approaches Spenser about finding his daughter's missing husband, it's clear he's not telling them the whole truth, but Spenser nevertheless agrees to take the case.
