Detective Lindsay Boxer and Assistant District Attorney Jill Bernhardt are enjoying a quiet afternoon in San Francisco when a townhouse across the street explodes in flames. A sinister note signed 'August Spies' is found at the scene of the disaster, and the body of an infant who was asleep in the house at the time of the explosion cannot be found. Soon a wave of violent incidents, all with links to political terrorism and involving the 'August Spies', sweeps through the city. An upcoming economic summit of the world's most powerful nations will surely be a target. And it's up to the Women's Murder Club to get to the bottom of the violence before it's too late.