Aimee Leduc, private investigator specializing in computer security, has been introduced to the Cao Dai temple in Paris by her partner Rene Friant. He urges her to learn to meditate: she could use a more healthful approach to life. The Vietnamese nun Linh has been helping Aimee to attain her goal, so when she asks Aimee for a favor-to go to the Clichy quartier to exchange an envelope for a package-Rene prompts Aimee to agree. But the intended recipient, Thadee Baret, is shot and dies in Aimee's arms before the transaction can be completed, leaving Aimee with a wounded arm, a check for 50,000 francs, and a trove of ancient jade artifacts.

Whoever killed Baret wants the jade. The RG-the French secret service; a group of veterans of the war in Indochina and some wealthy ex- colonials and international corporations seeking oil rights are all implicated. And the nun, Linh, has disappeared.

Since the incident in which she was temporarily blinded (Murder in the Bastille), Aimee has promised to avoid danger. But somehow, it continues to seek her out.

Cara Black lives in San Francisco with her husband, a bookseller, and her son. She is the author of Murder in Belleville, Murder in the Marais and Murder in the Bastille published by Soho Press. Murder in the Sentier was a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller.