Screaming and violent, little Jenny had never behaved as such—until The Babysitter. As the teenager entered the house, the grandmother was aware of her striking, disturbing beauty—a disturbing beauty that hides an ancient curse.

Twenty-five years ago, in a small Iowa town, an asylum for the criminally insane burned to the ground, killing inmates and employees. The fire was set by Paul Renard, a sexual psychopath who escaped the blaze and disappeared. Today young Ricky Hennessey faces murder charges in the death of his girlfriend. His defense: Paul Renard did it. Legal investigator Robert Payne joins the case at the request of Tandy West, a cable TV psychic and Payne's former lover. She's doing a piece on the Hennessey case for her show but has begun to question her gift and feels the need for Payne's reality-based investigatory skills. With the assistance of the local police chief, Susan Charles, Payne learns that the past has invaded the future in a most unexpected way.

Two beautiful Indian women are found dead with their noses cut off - an old Indian practice to punish infidelity - in this suspenseful second mystery by best-selling author Ed Gorman. The mutilation murders stun the quiet Iowa town of Cedar Rapids and call for the special skills of criminal psychologist Robert Payne, who uses clues from the crime scene to piece together a psychological portrait of the killer. The prime suspect is another Indian, David Rhodes, who is estranged from his wife, police detective Cindy Rhodes - and the woman with whom Payne is starting to fall in love. David Rhodes may have been morally outraged because the two murdered women were exploiting young girls in a prostitution ring. However, Payne discovers that the crime bears an eerie resemblance to a case involving a young Indian brave at the turn of the century. And when David is attacked by two well-established white men who clearly have something to hide, suspicion starts to shift. Payne uncovers another link to the town's frontier past - and finds that a prominent Cedar Rapids family guards a dark secret.