SFPD Detective Joe Goodey’s luck turned bad right around the time he shot the mayor’s cousin. It got worse when the department took his badge and ran him out of San Francisco to a flophouse motel. But when a local go-go queen turns up murdered, her black book of names needs to be recovered discretely - lest the mayor's affairs become public. And so Joe Goodey is offered a simple deal: solve the case and Joe gets his badge back. But with few leads – and no time - can Goodey survive San Francisco’s winding streets and cutthroat characters long enough to catch the killer?

Who Killed Katie? Joe Goodey, ex-police detective reluctantly turned private eye, isn't enjoying a whole lot of success when a rich businessman hires him to find out who killed his drug addict granddaughter. The case leads Joe to The Institute, a cult living in a mansion down the coast from San Francisco, where Hugo Fischer, self-proclaimed guru, holds rule over a motley tribe of recovering addicts and middle-class seekers after the light. Doing his best imitation of a bull in a china shop, Joe checks in to The Institute for an extended visit, only to discover that the killer might not be the only person who wants to stop his investigation for good.