When beatnik sailor Bill Caxton waded ashore near Manzanita in 1958, he encountered an extraordinary local woman. 40 years later, he's searching for the son they conceived. But the eccentric detective he's hired must also solve a murder. Caxton hands over the operation of his literary magazine, The American Quarterly Review, to two newcomers. Their next tangled issue becomes this novel. Piecing together the plot, veiled in a web of short stories, articles, and serial fiction—presents an intriguing challenge. Portlanders will recognize Manzanita, the American Stonehenge at Maryhill WA, the Pittock Mansion, and Sir Francis Drake's alleged landing on Oregon's coast in 1579.