The macabre case began with a string of bizarre deaths in San Francisco, then spread to New York City. Each victim was well-to-do and had been befriended by members of an extended Gypsy family: the notorious Tene Bimbos.

Fay Faron, an unconventional private investigator known professionally as "Rat Dog Dick," was assigned to investigate the accusations of an elderly widow who claimed she was being swindled by a Tene Bimbo named Danny. Within days, the widow was found naked and dead, and the Gypsy settled comfortably into her $500,000 home.

Olsen chronicles "the Maltese Faron's" hunt for evidence against Danny, his conniving mother, Mary, and his lush sister, Angela -- a cabal of con artists believed to be responsible for at least five deaths by mistreatment and slow poison. In a voyage into darkness, Olsen exposes a terrifying Gypsy subculture that exploits public indifference and police ineptitude to take merciless advantage of the most vulnerable among us.