In this newest entry in A. F. Carter's Edgar-nominated Delia Mariola series, a group of corrupt cops infiltrates the Baxter PD and an undercover agent must work to disarm them.

The Baxter Police Department is prepared to battle against the drug dealers, pimps, and stick-up artists constantly streaming into town. Or, it should be. The department began recruiting shortly after the Nissan contract was awarded, which began the city's rapid transformation, but the commission vetting new hires rushed to bring in almost anyone with a law enforcement background. Men and women were added as fast as they applied, creating a vortex that perfectly suited a group of ex-cops from Missouri as corrupt as they are brutal. Championed by Bute Stafford, candidate for mayor, they aim to run the Baxter PD and, through it, the entire city.

Captain Delia Mariola's not afraid—not of these crooked cops nor of the higher-ups who protect them. But she surely needs help and finds it in the form of Tom Carney. An experienced undercover from faraway Philadelphia, his status is known only by Delia and the commissioner. That secret proves invaluable as Carney weaves unsuspected through Baxter's underworld. But to what end? Does Carney serve the people of Baxter? Or is the supremely charismatic man playing a game of his own?