World-weary detective Mike Mason becomes embroiled in the local politics of coastal preservation when he is called upon to explain his involvement with an environmental activist found murdered - the body of which was recovered from a local garbage dump. Joined by his partner, Joe Ballard, the two private investigators embark on a quest to find the activist's murderer and, in doing so, realize things are not always what they seem; that someone who had once taken only a keen interest in Mike Mason's life story is now becoming an active player.

After detective Mike Mason's partner finds a mysterious gold coin on a Pacifica beach, a local reporter does a little sleuthing of his own and ignites a modern-day gold rush. Encouraged by his partner, Mike steps into the middle of the frenzy and quickly finds he's once more dealing with the wiles of a lovely but treacherous woman.

Detective Mike Mason now lives in Pacifica, a small coastal town just south of San Francisco, but is drawn back to the rough streets of the city's Tenderloin District by a new client named Laura Grandviewer, who is as beautiful as she is untrustworthy. Lies and half-truths send Mike upon a crooked path, and before he can unsnarl all of the loose ends, Laura has set waving in the criminal winds, a growing body count will work to unnerve this hardened detective and end in a climactic splash of blood.