New York: William H. Morrow, (1986) dj. Hardcover first edition - Novel by this award-winning mystery writer centered on the trial of Cully Paul King, a handsome black skipper of private yacht, who was arrested in a California coastal town for the strangulation murder and robbery of a woman he had hired to work onboard. "The prosecutor claims that the victim's jewel case which can't be found was King's motive for murder. The contents of the case mark one of the startling disclosures in the proceedings, most shedding merciless light on the people involved with the defendant. The judge, the opposing attorneys, the amorous court clerk - everyone has more at stake in the verdict than the defendant. All, for different reasons, want to control King's future. Only one realizes that ambition, making the final shocker in Millar's tautly constructed story." (PW Weekly) 323 pp. ISBN: 0-688065937.