Beka, having just lost her fiancé in a slaver's raid, is able to distract herself by going with her team on an important hunt at the queen's request, unaware that the throne of Tortall depends on their success.

Told in their separate voices, thirteen-year-old soccer star Kevin and police sergeant Brown, who knew his father, try to keep Kevin out of juvenile hall after he is arrested on very serious charges.

When sixteen-year-old Beka becomes "Puppy" to a pair of "Dogs," as the Provost's Guards are called, she uses her police training, natural abilities, and a touch of magic to help them solve the case of a murdered baby in Tortall's Lower City.

Having been promoted from "Puppy" to "Dog," Beka, now a full-fledged member of the Provost's Guard, and her former partner head to a neighboring port city to investigate a case of counterfeit coins.

Beka, having just lost her fiance in a slaver's raid, is able to distract herself by going with her team on an important hunt at the queen's request, unaware that the throne of Tortall depends on their success.

"Sasha didn't think her life could get any worse. She was wrong. First, her dad decided they all needed 'a new start' and moved her and her younger brother to Manna Creek, a town whose residents don't seem very glad to have a new policeman-- never mind his kids-- in town. Then, things started happening. Strange, inexplicable things that only she can see, or hear. Just like before. At least there's King, the retired police dog who's come to live with...