"New York, 1942: Willowjean "Will" Parker is a scrappy circus runaway whose knife-throwing skills have just saved the life of private investigator, Lillian Pentecost. Lillian's multiple sclerosis means she can't keep up with her old case load alone, so she wants to hire Will to be her right-hand woman. In return, Will is to receive a salary, room and board, and training in Lillian's very particular art of investigation. Three years later: Will and Lillian are on a case: Abigail Collins was found bludgeoned to death with a crystal ball following a big, boozy Halloween party at her home; her body in the same chair where her steel magnate husband shot himself the year before - in a locked room. The case involves messages from the dead, a seductive spiritualist, and Becca Collins - daughter of the deceased. When Will and Becca start a relationship, Will discovers she may have become the murderer's next target.--Publisher.