Her name was Tessie Cullen and she was beautiful... and she shook the dice in a joint in Coalfield--the most sinful city south of Chicago. The hoods owned Coalfield, owned its corrupt, neon body and soul and they had a lease on Tessie, too. A short-term lease, maybe, but it kept her in line. But they never figured on Tessie's falling in love. They never figured on Hally Harper, the crusading young lawyer who came to Coalfield to blow the lid off it and its jungle of rackets. The odds were all on murder. Tessie's. Coalfield's most popular event, The Sparrow Hawk Derby, is the backdrop for intrigue, deception and greed. It seems the Big Boys from Chicago have a personal interest in the Derby, knowing much dough can be made from all that betting. Harper has an interest, as well. He's actually a federal narcotics agent on the trail of a huge shipment of opium that's gone missing. What he doesn't expect to find is murder. Tessie knows just enough to get herself killed by the Mob... and it's up to Harper to get this case unraveled soon before she becomes the next victim!