Tamara's past, however, is about to catch up with her. A woman, Lilah Love, that Tamara met in Jamaica once upon a time has just walked into Tamara’s office, asking Tamara to get the woman's baby back from her younger sister, who Tamara later learns is only sixteen years old. Tamara is not intimidated by Lilah, her bodyguard Turk or the fact that she gave Tamara $30,000 no strings attached many years ago; her gut tells her to leave this alone.

Also, Tamara is scheduled to meet later with Lilah's ex-father-in-law, Treyman Barnes for precisely the same job. Treyman is a business man with a somewhat checkered past, but Tamara feels he and his wife can provide a more stable environment for a child. While in Barnes's building, Tamara runs into another ghost from the past, ex-lover Basil, who still shares Tamara's feelings of attraction, but who cannot offer the stability Larry can.

Before Tamara can blink, Lilah is dead, Jamal was the last person to see her alive; the baby and Lilah's sister Trinity are missing and Barnes is getting testy about getting his granddaughter. Bodies pile up as Tamara tries to keep Jamal from the police, even as a material witness. Trying to sort out complicated family relationship keeps Tamara's mind busy and gives her something to focus on while she worries about how to keep Jamal out of trouble and while she tries to figure out her heart.

Tamara Hayle is heroine to be admired. She will fight fiercely for those she loves, but she also knows when it is time to let go and move on. She is very independent, but also recognizes the role her ex-husband DeWayne must play in Jamal's life in order to help keep Jamal grounded. Valerie Wilson Wesley does not romanticize the gritty streets of Newark and Jersey City, but describes the good and the bad, and the sad, such as the once elegant, now rundown, area where Trinity and her aunt Edna now live, and she often uses the setting as a personification of the people found in it.

The mystery is well laid out, perhaps a little too much as by the end of the novel there is very little left to be surprised about. A dependable series for readers who don’t like their mysteries too cozy, but who would prefer not to have too much blood and gore.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry