Private Investigator Sam Marlowe was enjoying a dry martini at his usual bar in North Beach. He then got a call from Cosette, a dazzling dame who was nothing but trouble. As a man once burned, he knew he should stay away from her. However, as a PI he was interested in what she had to say. Cosette's friend, an exotic dancer in San Francisco, was murdered in Washington Square. Two underage girls from the Broadway strip joints also went missing at the same time. Sam suspected a connection between these crimes. Before he knew it, he was embroiled in the sordid underbelly of the city's sex trade. Sam runs into opposition from corrupt cops and city officials who don't want him conducting his investigation. But despite being followed by hired goons every step of the way, nothing can dissuade this hard-boiled detective from closing a case. This mystery also includes Sam's remembrances of previous cases, accounts of San Francisco's historical figures, observations of city life, and walking tours covering the story's locations.