'I don't mean to bitch, but in the future I intend to hesitate before I do a favour for a friend of a friend. Never have I taken on such a load of grief. At the outset, it all seemed so innocent...'

It was the week before Thanksgiving when Kinsey Millhone first heard the sad story of the late Johnny Lee, the World War II fighter pilot of whom, rather mysteriously, the military authorities have no record. His family are concerned - perhaps Kinsey could make a few calls, straighten things out?

Then Johnny's apartment is ransacked. In the debris a hidden safe is uncovered - and in that safe is a mysterious key marked LAWLESS.

That night Kinsey's on a plane to Dallas, at the start of a thrilling rollercoaster ride through Texas and Kentucky on the trail of a long-buried treasure. Unfortunately there's a fire-raising psychopath on her tail...

And she's going to be late for a very important wedding...