Homicide cop Tom McMichael is on the rotation when an 84-year-old city patriarch named Pete Braga is found bludgeoned to death. Not good news, especially since the Irish McMichaels and the Portuguese Bragas share a violent family history dating back three generations. Years ago Braga shot McMichael's grandfather in a dispute over a paycheck; soon thereafter Braga's son was severely beaten behind a waterfront bar - legend has it that it was an act of revenge by McMichael's father.<BR>McMichael must put aside the old family blood feud and find the truth about Pete Braga's death. Braga's beautiful nurse is a suspect. She claims - conveniently - to have stepped out for firewood at the time of the murder, but key evidence suggests otherwise. The investigation soon expands to include Braga's business, his family, the Catholic diocese, a multimillion-dollar Indian casino, a prostitute, a cop, and, of course, the McMichael family.