CJ Floyd's antique and Western collectibles store is finally open and he's left bail bonding and bounty hunting far behind—or so he thinks. An old book he buys turns out to contain much more than a dry history of 19th-century Montana: tucked inside is a never-before-seen photograph from the Golden Spike ceremony, a seminal event in American history. It's an item collectors would kill to get. And when the book's former owner turns up dead, police peg CJ as the prime suspect. With help from his former partner, Flora Jean Benson, and his cadre of urban cowboys, CJ sets out to find the killer. The investigation draws him into the bizarre world of cutthroat collectors, museum curators, eccentric power brokers, and small-minded academics, all on a vicious treasure hunt for the ultimate jackpot.
