Nik Kane struggles with a killer from his past in this latest entry in the Shamus Award—nominated series. Author Mike Doogan has been hailed as "a fine addition to the list of crime writers who call Alaska home" by The Seattle Times.

Twenty years ago, Alaska was a different place— rougher, more violent. Danny Shirtleff was the kind of cop needed to keep the lid on Anchorage, never afraid to mix it up. His luck ran out on a muddy road next to Skeleton Lake. Two bullets in the back of the head took care of Danny, and landed fledgling detective Nik Kane with the first big case of his career. He never expected that it would take twenty years to untangle the threads that made up the dead police officer's life.

Two decades on and Nik has been badly injured in pursuit of his latest case. Something about this experience starts him thinking about Danny Shirtleff—a mystery that has haunted him for years. Physically unable to take on a new assignment, Nik is determined to keep himself occupied by reexamining the evidence in this cold case. But cold cases can heat up. And Nik is about to get burned.