Homicide police detective, single mother of a teenage daughter, and lover to her partner Jim Kissick, Nan Vining wishes that life was a little more serene, more like it is at Georgia Berryhill’s Malibu Canyon compound—or like it’s supposed to be there, anyway. But three bizarre deaths have brought Vining and Kissick through the exclusive gates of this healing ground for the well-heeled. First there’s the double homicide of a celebrity private eye and his nude, drugged-out lover. Then there’s the inexplicable drowning of a Pasadena socialite. Georgia Berryhill—charismatic self-help guru to the stars—is one link to both investigations. A second link is Vining’s own mother, who was a friend to one of the victims and was being wooed by another. Now A-listers, wannabes, lost souls, and keepers of long-hidden secrets all converge at the Berryhill compound. Some search for love and happiness, while others come for murder.

Back from the dead. That’s how it feels for Nan Vining, a Pasadena homicide cop determined to find the brutal madman who attacked her a year ago. Nan’s daughter calls the unknown assailant T. B. Mann—The Bad Man. On the job, Nan breaks rules and steals evidence, building a case file based on the certainty that T. B. Mann is obsessed with women who wear uniforms, that he hunts them, kills them, then adorns them with a pearl necklace.

At the crime scene of her official assignment, the murder of an ex-con, Nan spots a graffiti tag and is sure, against all reason, that T. B. Mann was there, too. Further complicating matters is Nan’s developing relationship with Detective Jim Kissick, but she knows that opening her heart means losing control. Then T. B. Mann reemerges from the shadows for a final confrontation, bringing Nan to the sudden, horrifying realization that her killer has baited the perfect trap.