The dual forces of good and evil take center stage in the fourth installment in the Jimmy McSwain Files, one that finds the tortured, sexy detective battling an unforeseen enemy: happiness. Yet murder will soon rear its desperate chill, hurtling Jimmy into the highest society and the lowest of lives.

Winter is nearly upon Manhattan, the holidays right around the corner. Jimmy is hired to escort the infamous tabloid favorite Serena Carson to a charity benefit, intent on guarding her from an abusive ex. Yet the job takes a brutal turn as Lothario Henderson Carlyle is found sliced to death outside of Serena's brownstone. The cops warn Jimmy away from the case, including his former lover, Captain Francis X. Frisano. Jimmy has his hands full anyway, as his visiting cousin Kellan was found beaten by onetime family friend Mickey Dean, a Hell's Kitchen thug with a dark past.

As the snow falls and answers remain buried, Jimmy finds himself thrown into the midst of two conflicting cases, one of which will expose a dormant clue to the long-unsolved murder of his father, NYPD cop Joseph McSwain. Complicating matters is a new man in Jimmy's life, who promises Jimmy security and safety, neither word easy for him to accept. When fate sends Jimmy's world into turmoil, he realizes there's a devil at work in a season usually owned by angels.