"Clete Purcel--private investigator, former cop, and war veteran with a hard shell covering just a few soft spots-is Dave Robicheaux's longtime friend and partner in detective work. But he has a troubled past. When Clete picks up his car from the local car wash, only to find it ransacked by a group of thugs tied to the drug trade, it feels personal-his grandniece died of a fentanyl overdose, and his fists curl when he thinks of the dealers who sold it. As Clete traces the connections in this far-reaching criminal enterprise, Clara Bow, a woman with a dark past, hires Clete to investigate her scheming, slippery ex-husband, and a string of brutal deaths all link back to a heavily tattooed man who lurks around every corner. Clete experiences shockingly lifelike hallucinations and questions Clara's ulterior motives when he and Dave start to hear rumors of a dangerous substance with potentially catastrophic effects. The thugs who destroyed Clete's car might have been pawns in a scheme far darker than they could've imagined."--