A heat wave descends on Los Angeles in the summer of 1951 as PI Del Gerritsen investigates former bank employee Frank Conners. Del meets a girl singer in a jazz combo named Amelia Covell. She's young, beautiful--and negro. They fall fro each other and begin sleeping together. A bad cop named Albert Sintra is connected with the subject of Del's investigation. When the bank vice president who hired Del is brutally beaten to death, Del learns of a connection between Conners and Sintra. Del learns of the shooting of an LA City councilman by Sintra from his old friend on the LAPD, Detective Gil Rivers. Conners and Sintra are half brothers, competing for a city contract. Things go wrong between them and Sintra ends up dead. But Del Gerritsen is framed for the murder. He must pursue Conners in LA's skid row. At the story's climax the LAPD on Conners's tail under Gil Rivers converges on its quarry as time is about to run out for Del Gerritsen.