Relations between the Pittsburgh police and the Black community deteriorate when a popular Black trumpet player, Larry Mabry, is beaten up by a white narcotics cop outside a jazz club. Days later, the cop is dead and the musician is accused of murder. The trumpeter's brother, Gary, a drug dealer with political clout, mobilizes the community to try to secure his brother's release. Then another murder occurs. Detectives Branko Radic and Kathleen Mulroy must solve two murders quickly, despite distractions that include a drug war, political skullduggery, and a plague of snakes.
