A woman with a murky past who kills herself. A dying old man cared for by the son he abused. A lovely woman whose life is about to shatter. A professional shoplifting ring. A brutal gangster. A wandering husband. A spoiled kid awash in debt. A lonely widower desperate for answers. A ruthless business man: the spider at the center of the web. And Kinsey Millhone, whose thirty-eighth birthday present is two black eyes and a busted nose.