1952, Los Angeles.

It is New Years Eve and PI Aloysius Archer is dining with his friend and rising Hollywood actress Liberty Callahan when they're approached by Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter who would like to hire him as she suspects someone is trying to kill her.

A visit to Lamb's Malibu residence leaves Archer knocked unconscious after he stumbles over a dead body in the hallway, and Lamb seems to have vanished. With the police now involved in the case, a close friend and colleague of Lamb's employs Archer to find out whats happened to the screenwriter.