In the sleepy seaside town of La Jolla, California, rookie cop Jake Stirling saves renowned author Raymond Chandler from committing suicide. Jake’s decisive action earns the respect of his hard-nosed captain, Wade Lennox, who served on the force with Jake’s father, a detective whose career was destroyed by the scandalous, still unsolved Creeper case. Jake and his family have pulled together to deal with their father’s self-destruction, but teenaged brother Danny’s rebelliousness threatens their fragile cohesion. A year later, Jake gets called to the Hotel Del Charro, where up-and-coming starlet Zsa Zsa Gabor reports her diamond necklace and a train case have been stolen. Her paramour, political wheeler-dealer Artie Corcoran, accuses the local police of corruption while another guest, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, demands Jake’s loyalty and hints at an international conspiracy. Notorious mobsters Meyer Lansky and Carlos Marcello check into the hotel and turn up the heat. A local gangster is murdered, and Captain Lennox intervenes in Jake’s investigation. Raymond Chandler returns—a cynical prophet of doom seeking his confiscated revolver. When Creeper case suspect and town golden-boy Todd DuBarry turns up dead with Chandler’s gun at his feet, police detectives begin to suspect Jake in a series of murders. Jake’s brother Danny discovers Gabor’s train case, which holds a secret so damning it could change the course of American history. As powerful forces close in, Jake scrambles to vindicate himself and save his brother’s life. A deadly shootout with Lennox leaves Jake physically and emotionally damaged but more determined than ever to find the Creeper and clear his father’s name.