A dark mystery in the spirit of the early Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. The setting is New Orleans in 1994, when the Big Easy was known as the murder capital of the U. S. A.; police corruption had reached a point where a local tour guide advised visitors not to take their problems to the police. Former boxer Eddie Leblanc, involved in a vendetta against Mafia boss Adolph Corfu, begins an affair with Corfu"s estranged wife Erica. Black detective Micah Loggins, who once faced Eddie for the welterweight championship of the city, becomes involved with Corfu"s Haitian mistress Cecille Soulemon. Corfu disappears and Eddie is accused of his murder. As Micah struggles to free his old friend, he finds himself involved in a complex plot that involves not only the Corfu family but the New Orleans Police and the federal government as well.