When an old friend is murdered, Claire and her husband search for the killer

Ever since she got married, Claire Breslinsky has dreamed of living in the tree-lined Queens neighborhood where she grew up. But her husband is a cop, and cops aren’t allowed to live in the precincts they police. When Johnny’s transfer request finally comes through, Claire sets her sights on a beautiful, shabby old Victorian mansion. She is about to tour the house when she hears a half-forgotten voice: that of her old friend Tree, who lives across the street from the one Claire wants to buy. They hug, exchange numbers, and promise to see each other more often. They won’t. Tree will be dead by morning.

A talented photographer with a Buddhist sense of cosmic justice, Claire can’t help but suspect Tree’s oddly cheerful husband of doing her in. With Johnny’s help, she digs into the bizarre murder and finds that strange things have been happening lately on the shady side streets of Richmond Hill.