ckles gets the call all private investigators live for: a mysterious client with money to burn who needs answers and needs them now. The job is simple. Fly to Kleinstadt, Indiana, and determine whether fifteen years ago, teenage murder victim Mindy Bauerman got justice, or if her classmate, Timmy Hanlon, had been wrongly convicted and wasting away in prison.

Nic's analytic skills lack the rigor of a Sherlock Holmes, as memories of past romantic failures derail his thinking. But they all pale in comparison to the long-running emotional issues Nic has with his mother. He may not have a silky-smooth interrogation style, and more than one Nature documentary has informed his decision-making, but Nic's saving grace is a relentless drive to solve criminal mysteries and a soft spot for forgotten victims and their loved ones. As Nic himself would say, "I'm a big city private eye with a boatload of heartbreak, traversing the universe in pursuit of justice for the little guy."