Nightingale is a former police negotiator working as a private detective. Why he's a FORMER cop is explained in painful detail in the introductory chapters, but I don't want to spoil the the story with too many details. His life now is much different and Nightingale is a changed man. Most of his casework is unfaithful spouses, but it pays the bills most of the time. His current hum drum life of drudgery all changes when he's told that he has inherited a large mansion from a deceased father he never knew existed. This isn't the life Nightingale asked for or ever wished for.