Merci Rayborn, T. Jefferson Parker's stubborn, principled Orange County detective, is almost alone in believing that deputy Archie Wildcraft didn't kill his beautiful young wife and then turn his service weapon on himself. The evidence against Wildcraft--now hospitalized with a bullet lodged in his head--seems overwhelming. But Merci, who's still unpopular for exposing an old police scandal that caused the death of one cop and the ruination of others...

When her brother is exiled to live with distant relatives in Vietnam, a young woman journeys to her family's homeland to bring him back and uncovers mysteries about secret loves, desperate choices, and the human consequences of war.