Walter Ames knew how to write a convincing murder. He never imagined becoming the victim of one.

When the novelist is found dead in his study, an unfinished manuscript offers Detective Monica Rourke more questions than answers. An old grievance has turned ugly. A trusted assistant has something to hide. And a death dismissed years ago as an accident begins to look disturbingly familiar.

Walter's brother wants justice, but every answer makes the people around him harder to trust. Someone knows which questions the police are asking. Someone is helping them follow the wrong story.

To find the killer, Monica must separate the author's inventions from the secrets other people see between his lines.