In this first case in the new Hugo Sandoval Eco-Mystery series, an old-school San Francisco building inspector must reluctantly venture outside his beloved city and find his sea legs before he can solve the mystery of how a 90-ton blue whale became stranded, twice, in a remote inlet off the North Coast.

Set on the turbulent Mendocino Coast against the backdrop of a failing fishing fleet and illegal cannabis grows, Sandoval encounters roadblocks and lies as he grapples with the connection between a red tag posted on the historic Chicken Cove ranch and the decomposing marine mammal at the foot of its cliffs.

Debilitated by more than a few idiosyncrasies, reluctant media darling Hugo Sandoval is a people's hero, fighting the good fight in a modern era where development and climate change butt heads - and where each requested permit attempts to eclipse the old San Francisco Sandoval loves.