The premier hip-hop club in Austin, Texas, has been reduced to a pile of ashes. The body of a homeless wino is found nearby. The cops, looking for a quick wrap, call it arson and pin it on the dead wino. Getdown Joe Sillery, the club's owner, isn't buying it. He's been approached by buyers and thinks the fire may have been unsubtle pressure. He hires Blevins Investigations gumshoe Tony Boudreaux to flush out the real arsonist. Paired with a new operative, Doreen Patterson, who is to bad attitude what Kenyans are to distance running, Boudreaux works the streets and quickly deduces that the wino was murdered, and the arson may have been collateral damage in the search for a pawn ticket that is the key to a stolen crystal skull valued at five million dollars.