Literary critic Nicky Hunter is a huge fan of mystery writer Sebastian Trapp. So she’s thrilled when Trapp, who’s dying, asks her to write the story of his life. She’s invited to be a guest in the San Francisco family home with Trapp, his second wife, Diana, and his daughter, Maddy. Perhaps Nicky can solve a mystery or two while she’s there, Trapp hints: the disappearance of his first wife and son 20 years earlier.