"Washington, D.C., 1972. Derek Strange has left the police department and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner, Frank "Hound Dog" Vaughn, is still on the force. When a young woman comes to Strange asking for his help recovering a cheap ring she claims has sentimental value, the case leads him onto Vaughn's turf, where a local drug addict's been murdered, shot point-blank in his apartment. Soon both men are on the trail of a ruthless...

In the midst of a brutal courtroom battle during which a Washington, D.C., crime overlord faces the death penalty and his rivals vie for his territory, private investigator Derek Strange struggles to protect the life of a witness.

At a mother's request, Derek Strange investigates the killing of one police officer by another in the D.C. underworld, where police officers and criminals operate by their own secret laws, and where human life is sometimes of less consequence than cash, drugs, and other forms of currency."--Jacket.