In Portland, the City of Roses, it takes more than raindrops to make Detective Max Rose bloom. A pipe, a bourbon, and all the brain-power that goes into solving a murder makes him blossom. And what about emerald-eyed Lily Roberts, the victim's widow? A tonic. Hopefully not one made with hemlock. To find Jack's killer, Max journeys into Portland's Circus Underground and uncovers a secret that leads him all the way back to the Third Reich, and finally to 18th-century Cremona. Detective Rose always gets his man. And as for the ladies? Well...Max is an accordionist.