The chic Manhattan nightspot called Du Vin has a French theme-though it's actually owned by an Irishman who just happens to be married to the NYPSD's Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Du Vin is not the kind of place Dallas would usually patronize, and it's definitely not the kind of bar where a lot of blood gets spilled. But that's exactly what happens one cold February evening.

The mortally wounded woman who stumbles out of the ladies' room is Larinda Mars, a self-described "social information reporter" or, as most people would call it, a professional gossip. As it turns out, she wasn't publicly sharing all the dirt she dug up. She kept the best, most shocking stories quiet for profitable use in her side business as a blackmailer. Setting her sights on rich, prominent marks, she'd find out what they most wanted to keep hidden and then bleed them dry. Now someone's done the same to her, literally-with a knife to the brachial artery.

Eve didn't like Larinda Mars. But she likes murder even less. To find justice for this victim, she'll have to plunge into the dirty little secrets of all the people Larinda Mars victimized. Along the way, she may be exposed to some information she really didn't want to know. . . .