Detective Cassius Toledo in one of his oddest murder investigations. A dead girl stabbed savagely and a message on the wall, written in blood, suggests a jealous rage. As the case leads him to Hillsborough, one of the richest parts of the Bay Area, Toledo discovers all is not as it seems and soon he becomes involved in a family as strange as it is deadly. The darkest of secrets and a rising body count lead to a spectacular ending in which new life springs from old, and yet some questions remain unanswered. Here in the second of the Berkeley Mysteries, Toledo is joined once again by Professor Ian McMannis and Ginny, now in her last year at Cal., but eager to help all she can.