On Manhattans Upper East Side, a woman lies dead at the bottom of a brownstones basement steps, stripped of all her valuables. Most cops might call it a mugging gone wrong, but Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows better. A well-off accountant and a beloved wife and mother, Marta Dickenson doesnt seem the type to be on anyones hit list. But when Eve and her partner, Peabody, find blood inside the brownstone, she knows Martas murder is the work of a killer whos trained, yet not professional or smart enough to remove all the evidence. Eve learns that on the day of her murder Marta was assigned to work on three audits, and begins to suspect that she was killed to cover up fraudulent activity. Eve is good at catching criminals, not crunching numbers, but luckily, she has her billionaire husband, Roarke, to figure out which companies in Martas files arent on the up-and-up. When someone steals the files from Martas office, Eve must immerse herself in Roarkes world of big business to figure out whos cruel and callous enough to hire a hit on an innocent woman. And as the killers violent streak starts to escalate, Eve knows she has to draw him out, even if it means using herself as bait. . . .