"Fate can toss a boomerang." It's a cryptic message scrawled on a scrap of paper-left at the scene of a brutal murder. The victim? Petra Turkett: beloved teacher, respected coach... and, as Detective Knox Wanamaker knows all too well, a predator who once tried to assault him when he was just a boy, although it didn't work. He had the good sense to fight her off and send her flying.

Now Petra is dead, and Knox-older, wiser, and harboring long-buried truths-gets stuck with leading the investigation. As he tries to unravel the mystery behind her violent end, questions spiral. Who killed Petra, and why? Was it revenge? How could it not be? And can Knox finally expose the secrets Petra took to her grave, once and for all?