Juniper Song knows secrets. How to keep them and how to search them out. As a girl, noir fiction was her favorite escape, and Philip Marlowe has always been her literary love. So when her friend Luke asks her to investigate a possible affair between his father and a young paralegal, Juniper (or "Song" as her friends call her) finds an opportunity to play detective. Driving through L.A.'s side streets, following leads, tailing suspects—it all appeals to Song's romantic ideal of the noir hero. But when she's knocked out while investigating a mysterious car and finds a body in her own trunk, Song lurches back to the real L.A., becoming embroiled in a crime that goes far beyond child's play. What's more, this isn't the first time Song has stuck her nose in other people's business. As she fights to discover the truth about her friend's family, Song reveals one of her own deeply hidden secrets, something dark, damaging, and urging her to see the current mystery through, to rectify the mistakes of her past life.