Wheaton is a typical New England small-college town, not the sort of place for drugs and murder. But when a reporter gets too inquisitive, he finds both—the latter on his own. Spenser's call comes when the local cops work a cover. He needs help to solve this one—Hawk for back-up and Susan for insight on the basics of jealousy, passion and hate! What the trio finds is a cutthroat cocaine ring, where drugs have value supreme and human life has none at all.