When a basketball player's sports agent is murdered just before he becomes the number one pick in the draft, he turns to Mike to prove his innocence. Was it the player, Mayron Hughes; his father Norton ""Norrie"" Hughes; his childhood friend who was injured and now has a licensing business, Desmond Ishmael; his new sports agent, Susan Wake; or his teammate and competitor, Elvin Grace?
The murder of a priest puts Hammer on the trail of a serial killer murdering prostitutes. Spoilers Faith, a prostitute, is murdered. After a priest, Father Dressler, asks Hammer to protect ladies of the evening, he is murdered. Faith's body is found with a wooden cross and a red wig. The killer next murders Rosie. Suspects include Father James, the handyman Ozzie, construction executive Jason Carter and Slick, a pimp. Slick is murdered to draw Hammer into a trap. The killer tracks down and kills Angel, who saw him pick up Rosie. Finally, Candy, a prostitute and friend of the murdered girls, offers to be bait to draw out the killer but things go awry and Hammer races to find her before the killer adds her to his list of victims.
When the artist Velda is seeing is murdered, Mike looks into it. Was the killer the assistant artist who may have been painting forgeries, the gallery owner, the jealous ex-girlfriend who gets into a catfight with Velda, the rich collector whose daughter he was romancing or the art reviewer dabbling in blackmail?