Jeffrey Chaussier is trying to escape his past by performing at theaters in the Midwest. When his father dies in New Orleans under suspicious circumstances, Jeff returns to the city he loves to probe into that death. Jeff is no detective, but he is a dutiful son. He reconnects with his former New Orleans life: his musician brother; the fire fighter brother; the brother who can fix anything; his formidable mother; his politician uncle; Red John, a man with a prodigious thirst; Ramirez, a detective who only wants to make his 30 years and retire to catch redfish; Paul Bunyan, who does not have a big, blue ox but maintains order on the New Orleans docks; Tommy, an ex-Marine who spells his name with an "i" for professional reasons at the female impersonator club he and his wife run on Bourbon Street; and Skinny (who is not) who settles arguments in his pool hall by sitting on his adversaries. Jeff's first call is on his friend Don who runs a theatre where a beautiful blonde is the stage manager. Sparks fly, but someone does not want his beautiful blonde to see hm. Jeff came home to investigate his father's death. Now questions are springing up all around him: who is following him in big, black cars; why is he getting mugged as he goes about asking questions; what secret does his blonde beauty hide; and why is his old neighborhood being razed to build casinos and hotels. Jeff begins by asking Cicero's question, Cui Bono? Finding the answers to these questions immerses him in America's most interesting city. Jeff must risk losing everything he wants In order to get his answers. The solution is to be found in a fiery inferno that could cost him his life.