Not until she was sixteen did Stella Arnold learn the full truth about her father - how handsome, charming James turned out to be a cold-blooded extortionist, racketeer...and killer. Knowing now what he was capable of, and fascinated by the dark backwaters of the human psyche, Stella pursues a degree in psychology. A doctorate at a top American university beckons: the chance to delve further into the mind of a psychopath - and to ascertain if such tendencies can be inherited... So in the late summer of 1962, Stella takes a plane to Boston. Bright, beautiful and fashionably English, she dazzles everyone she meets, including the Kennedy brothers. But far away, in the sweltering Florida Keys, a scene of terror is unfolding - and Stella is drawn to investigate a murderer even more ruthless than her own father...