<p>&#34A woman with a murky past who kills herself. <br>A dying old man cared for by the son he abused. <br>A lovely woman whose life is about to shatter. <br>A professional shoplifting ring. A brutal gangster. <br>A wandering husband. A spoiled kid awash in debt. A lonely widower <br>desperate for answers. A ruthless business man: the spider at the center <br>of the web. And Kinsey Millhone, whose thirty-eighth birthday present is <br>two black eyes and a busted nose.&#34</p>