<div>"M" is for money. Lots of it. "M" is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction, one of the few still in family hands.<br><br>"M" is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune--four men with very different outlooks, temperaments, and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them--angry, troubled, and in trouble--went missing.<br><br>"M" is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother.<br><br>"M" is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family. This prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table. "M" is for malice.<br><br>And in brutal consequence, "M" is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hatreds.<br><br>"M" is for malice . . . and malice kills.<br></div>