The sixth installment in the Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery series brings back Knopf's ensemble of famously eccentric and involving characters, not the least being Sam's dog Eddie Van Halen. A hardboiled crime novel, it also examines the fraught intersection of wealth, culture, politics and the ravages of an ugly war. Combine a beautiful watery setting with a unique look into the underbelly of the Hamptons, it's an action and suspense story you won't find anywhere else.

It's bad enough when someone you know is brutally murdered, it's worse when the guy was a paranoid schizophrenic helplessly bound to a wheelchair. Sam Acquillo and Jackie Swaitkowski tried to look after Alfie Aldergreen, as had others around the Village of Southampton, but now they were forced to wonder, what else could they have done? One thing is for certain, Alfie's killers are about to know what it means to murder a friend of Sam, former corporate troubleshooter, former professional boxer, and all-around ornery bull dog, and Jackie, a defense lawyer often described as an avenging angel.