Holloman, Connecticut, 1962. A very rare and lethal toxin, extracted from the blowfish, is stolen from a laboratory at Chubb University. It kills in minutes and leaves no trace behind - unless a doctor knows what to look for - and worried biochemist Dr. Millie Hunter reports the theft at once to her father, Medical Examiner Dr. Patrick O'Connell. Patrick's cousin, Captain Carmine Delmonico, is therefore quick off the mark when the bodies start to mount up. A sudden death at a dinner party and another at a gala black-tie event seem only to be linked by the poison and Dr. Jim Hunter, Millie's husband and scientist on the brink of greatness. A black man married to a white woman, Dr. Jim has faced scandal and prejudice for most of his life, so what would cause him to risk it all now? Is he being framed for murder, and if so, by whom? Carmine and his team of detectives must navigate the competitive world of academic publishing, fraught with politics and prestige. The stakes are high: a valuable art collection, a large inheritance, old and upstanding local families, a gold-digging wife, jealous relatives and a young couple's future.