When Chicago detective Abe Lieberman helps prostitute Estralda Valdez with a troublesome john in exchange for information, Lieberman's good intentions lead to a murder with roots ten years in the past and Lieberman into the kind of trouble that could get him killed.

With his Chicago cops, Edgar Award winner "Kaminsky is hard to beat for a thoughtful, well-plotted, well-written mystery" ( The Washington Post Book World ). Most days, the counters at Maish's Deli on Chicago's North Side are crowded with elderly Jewish men who trade stories and crack wise. But today, the mood at Maish's is grim. Someone has vandalized the local temple—the fifth in a row—and stolen a priceless Torah, and only Abe Lieberman...