Spenser gets a big payday. He had to protect his client running in the Boston marathon who is attacked by hitmen.
Spenser is looking to spend time in New Orleans with Susan. Instead he is pressurised by Father Crawford to look into the suicide of a novice nun.
Spenser soon finds out that the novice was pregnant. She had also been taking on shady property developer Tom Flaherty who has made a crooked deal with the Monsignor of the diocese.
Flaherty is evicting local residents to build premium apartments. It is called gentrification for yuppies. Hawk has been hired by Flaherty to be an enforcer.
Spenser assumes at first that Father Crawford might be the father of the baby. Later he thinks that Flaherty might be the main suspect before he looks close to home.
A reflective ending to the story. Hawk again comes across like a guardian angel and there is still a prickly relationship between the two.
You also get for mid 1980s episodic television. A more thoughtful look at being black in America.