Bøger i A Malcom Winters Mystery serien

What begins as concern for a brilliant college student from China who starts missing classes takes a more sinister turn when the body of another young Asian woman, dressed in traditional Chinese wedding garb with her face immaculately made up, is found in a shipping crate heading overseas. Reluctant sleuths Malcom and Vinn uncover a baffling set of clues as they race around Chicago's Chinatown trying to find the student before she meets a similar fate, along the way enlisting the help of a crossdressing businessman, an elderly faux Cuban cook, an overeager journalism student, a government source hiding behind a Vladimir Putin mask, and a posse of eccentric misfits. Their actions draw the attention of the local triad, putting a target on their own backs and putting a student journalist's life in danger, before a final confrontation in a most unexpected place.

It begins when the naked body of a businessman is discovered in a bathtub surrounded by a bizarre selection of props left behind by the killer as a taunt to law enforcement. Two more murders with similarly staged scenes connecting them to the first soon follow. Recruited to join the investigation against their will, Mal and Vinn are drawn into the dark world of genius-level puzzle addicts and a killer who challenges them with riddles. They soon discover a pattern that teases the occupations of both future killers and victims but reveals little else as they race to identify the person behind the murders before the carnage reaches their own inner circle. As the body count rises, they realize that justice can only be served outside of traditional law enforcement methods and that the ultimate solution will come at the cost of either their careers or their lives.