Holland Taylor is a PI who does simple background checks and other mostly unchallenging cases. Still wounded by the long-ago death of his wife and daughter, and newly mourning a recently failed relationship, Taylor doesn't have much interest in more challenging work. But almost by accident, he finds himself in the middle of the crime of the century. Eleanor Barrington, the doyenne of a socially prominent family of great wealth, has been arrested for the murder of Emily Denys, her son's fiancée. Barrington made no secret of her disdain for the victim, convinced that she was trying to take advantage of her son and her family. Taylor had been brought in to do a full background check on Emily, only to discover that both her name and her background were fabricated. Before he could learn more, she was murdered--shot in the head outside her apartment. Barrington had been overheard threatening to kill her son's fiancé and an eyewitness claims to have seen her kill Emily. But that's not the worst of it. Barrington's own son has even worse accusations to make against her. Caught in the dark tangle of a twisted family and haunted by his own past, Taylor finds that the truth is both elusive and dangerous.