In 1862 Nevada Territory, after finding his foster parents murdered and scalped, twelve-year-old Pinky Pinkerton, son of a railroad detective and a Sioux Indian, inherits a valuable deed and must hide from dangerous Whittlin Walt and his gang of desperados.

The death of sadistic desperado Whittlin Walt has created an opening for 'Chief of the Comstock Desperados'. Several young gunfighters are battling it out in the saloons and streets of Virginia City, and against this backdrop of gunmen, gamblers and cowboys, P.K. Pinkerton, Private Eye, is having trouble drumming up business. Nobody seems to take a 12-year-old detective seriously! Then a servant girl named Martha begs P.K. for help. She witnessed the murder of her mistress - a hurdy girl - and the killer knows it. Now he is after her. Martha gives P.K. a description of the killer and a cryptic clue, but then she disappears. Can P.K. solve the case and find Martha before the killer does?

The final whip-cracking adventure in the P.K. Pinkerton series from bestselling Roman Mysteries author Caroline Lawrence. When P.K's father, Robert Pinkerton, suddenly appears in Virginia City, P.K.'s life turns upside down. Suddenly she's having to learn how to be a 'girly-girl' in a cunning plot to outwit silver thieves. But it seems the thieves are one step ahead! Has P.K. finally met her match or can she use her detective skills to turn the situation on its head and impress her private-eye Pa? A gripping rollercoaster ride of a tale packed with Wild West authenticity and atmosphere from this million-selling author.