Nine Days in November follows nine days in the life of a police sergeant turned private investigator in mid-20th century Chicago. Hardened by the Great Depression and war, he is cautious and old fashioned in some ways, treasures enduring friendships, regularly works with a lifelong friend in the police force and hopes to marry a professor of English Literature, the only woman in his life. The crimes he encounters are inconsequential or reprehensible or tragic but none challenge his faith in the laws inside the Pale, a 14th century barrier separating civilized from uncivilized territory. On a morning in November he takes a telephone call that draws him into the world Beyond the Pale. Therein is the road to discovery.