Grayson Dyle didn't come to the black-tie gala to play detective. He came to keep his girlfriend happy, sip weak champagne, and shake hands with people who wouldn't remember him. But a prominent protester is found strangled after St. Paul's most controversial development project is unveiled, and the cops say the DNA left behind by the killer matches someone in Grayson Dyle's twisted family tree. That might be hard to explain-especially since his biological father wears a Catholic bishop's collar and has everything to lose.

Now, with his relationship with his girlfriend on the brink of disaster, his brother blaming him for everything, and his birth father suddenly in the frame for murder, Grayson-product designer, reluctant sleuth, and hopeless romantic-must untangle a web of political corruption, hidden identities, and blackmail before the truth destroys everyone he cares about.

In a city where no one's clean and every favor has a price, Grayson must walk the razor's edge between loyalty and justice while deciding how far he'll go to protect the truth-and whether anyone, including himself, can ever truly outrun their character flaws.

Because every family has flaws. His just might be fatal.

When he's not working on his next murder mystery, Joe is a Partner with a Management and IT Consulting firm. He is originally from Chicago and holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. After school, he moved to Minnesota to work for IBM and fell in love with the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Joe has been married for over 34 years and has two adult children, and a crazy dog named Bodhi.