Hugo Bishop: He's not a cop, nor a private eye. He simply shows up to help. He's the figure at the edge of the floodlights as a body is pulled from the river. He's the brilliant fashion plate who knocks elbows with psychopaths. Wielding a pungent sense of humor, he pursues danger in an arena of exotic intrigues and deadly pleasures. In Bishop's high-risk world, "The only thing worth going for is checkmate." Death row prisoners in two countries suddenly and mysteriously collapse and die before their executions. The odd puzzle intrigues Hugo Bishop and his brilliant assistant, Vera Gorringe. Then, when a local girl whose body has a passionate future and a scandalous past suddenly drops dead, Bishop becomes a key player in someone's frighteningly bizarre game. From secrets and decadent desires where each move could cost him the game―and his life.