Miranda Corbie, a private investigator working in the heart of 1940s San Francisco, is bringing this chapter of her life to a close before embarking on a journey to England to find her mother, despite the escalating conflict across Europe. But before she can finally settle her plans to leave, Louise Crowley, a young woman who works upstairs for a publisher in Miranda's office building, walks into Miranda's office. Louise is newly arrived in San Francisco from a small town in Washington state, and she's frightened-she believes someone is trying to kill her. Against her better judgment, Miranda agrees to take Louise on as a client. But soon, the publisher Louise works for is murdered, and it starts to look like the threats against Louise may have been part of a larger plan-or that Louise herself may have been involved in the murder.