The pitch went like this: Chris Butler, a retired cop, ran a private investigator firm in Concord, California. His business had a fascinating anglehis firm was staffed entirely by soccer moms.In fact, Butler employed PI Super Moms: attractive, organized, smart, and trained in investigative techniques, self-defense, and weaponry. This American Life host Ira Glass described them as MILF: Charlies Angels.When this story came across Pete Crookss desk when he was working at Diablo magazine in 2010, he was instantly hooked. Hed heard a little bit about Butler and his super moms in the news; theyd been featured in People magazine and on Dr. Phil. What Butlers publicist was offering was too tantalizing to pass up: an opportunity to ride along with Butler and a few of his sexy PIs as they prepared to start filming a reality TV show.But after the ride-alongand after he started receiving mysterious emails from one of Butlers employeesCrooks started to realize something didnt seem right. After doing a little digging, he discovered the sting hed seen only had one real victimhim. The PI bust had been a setup.Crooks wasnt a hardboiled crime reporter. He did lifestyle pieces for a regional magazine. The more he learned about Butlers operation, the more he realized he was in far over his head. But swallowing his fears, he decided he was going to write an expose on Butler and his entire organization. He soon found himself deep in the underbelly of fake sting operations, wannabe celebrities, police corruption, drug-dealing, reality television, double-crossing employees, and more twists and turns than a dozen crime thrillers.