A rare criminal client for Boston probate attorney Brady Coyne (Tight Lines, 1992, etc.)—Daniel McCloud, arrested for growing 70 pounds of cannabis that he insists he's using to alleviate the effects of Agent Orange—leads to one of Brady's strangest cases when the marijuana charges are abruptly dropped and a manuscript that Brady's agreed to send to New York literary agent Al Coleman turns out to be fatal to both Daniel and Coleman. There's more skulduggery afoot, too, since a file that Daniel marked ``Insurance'' contains particulars on eight men who have died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. What did these eight guys have in common, and what in the manuscript is so explosive that even Brady's oldest friends are warning him off the case? As you'd expect, the answers aren't quite as good as the questions, but this entry relies less on atmosphere and more on mystery than any of Brady's outings in years.