Publisher's Synopsis
Noble Rose had hopes of being a lawyer. He attended the University of Texas in Auston majoring in history. Realizing his grades weren't high enough to get into a law school, he minored in education and received a teaching certificate. Returning to Dallas, he taught history at a public school where he experienced teacher burn out and had to find some other occupational. Noble's father, a history buff, taught Noble how to gather facts, analyze them, and make a logical decision without being swayed by the opinions of others. With this skill as an asset, Noble decided to become a private investigator. After completing his apprenticeship and getting licensed, Noble opened his own practice. The cases were few in number at first, but Noble's reputation for being factual and honest led to an increase in business to the point where he needed to hire an office manager. Most of his cases involve people wanting proof their spouse is cheating, serving divorce papers, and verifying worker's compensation claims. Noble cases are mostly routine, and if he's honest, not very exciting. But then Noble is hired by Elizabeth Strong to find out who murdered her sister Emily Ross. Elizabeth found Emily strangled to death in her own home. The back door was unlocked and sometimes Emily would leave the back gate open if she was running or walking on the pathway behind her house. Could someone have gained entry and waited for Emily's return. Because of a party held the Saturday before Emily's death, identifying a stranger seems unlikely. At the time of Emily's death, her husband Mark Ross, a gambling addict, with a huge debt, was at the airport on his way to Houston which the police verified through eyewitnesses. Emily was planning on divorcing Mark, but never got the chance to file. That morning, Emily had testified for the prosecution against her boss Eliot Grossman. Eliot and Emily were good friends, and he says he didn't hold Emily responsible for having to testify against him. Eliot claims to have been at home at the time of Emily's murder, but no one can verify it. With the help of his office manager Kip Castillo and his friend Miles Drover a homicide detective, Noble will have to sift through the evidence to learn what happened that morning. It's his first case involving murder, and he's determined to find the truth.
