Angela Matelli grew up in a large Italian family in East Boston, leaving only to join the U. S. Marine Corps. Now working as a private investigator, Angela's usual case involves the streets and scenes she has known since childhood. And her caseload has included some of the toughest around - kidnappers, terrorists, murders, and her mother. But now she's been called upon to take on a new case up in the usually bucolic countryside of Vermont on the campus of Hartmore College and it may finally be the one that is too much for her skills. Her client at the well-regarded school is a professor of anthropology specializing in the study of Haiti and voodoo. Less than a week ago, one of his students died suddenly of no cause and, after that, he is sure that he saw her walking near campus. Since then, he's received two crude voodoo warnings on his life. Now Angela has to protect her client while tracking down the truth about the student's death, and possible reanimation.