In the 12th V. I. Warshawksi mystery, the private detective returns to her old South Chicago neighborhood, a visit littered with unpleasant memories, plus present-day sabotage, murder, and disappearing teenagers. After her former high-school basketball coach becomes ill with cancer, V. I. agrees to volunteer-coach the girls' team. An attempt to drum up corporate support for the team from local high-school alum Buffalo Bill Bysen, the elderly CEO of the By-Smart big-box discount store, proves a di..smal failure; ironically, the Bysen family ends up appealing to V. I. instead when Bysen's great-grandson Billy and one of the basketball team members run off together.