When Detective Cormac Roth calls, asking for help with a murder high in the Hollywood Hills, genealogist Ella Graepenteck is happy to oblige, and not just because she remembers his intriguing hazel eyes. Consulting for the police could be an exciting new branch of her career. Unfortunately, Detective Rafael Vasquez, Roth's partner and mentor, doubts the value of Ella's participation, but the best way for her to prove him wrong is to crack this puzzling case.

Ella's initial task is to clear up confusion about the victim's extended family and their ties to the luxurious house in which he was killed. She quickly unearths a family secret, which leads her to another one, and another. Her work keeps expanding, uncovering multiple potential motives and throwing suspicion in different directions.

Her well-honed research skills and her sometimes dangerous curiosity, along with some insight from her own eccentric relatives, guide Ella through a maze of information. If she can uncover the layers of deception in the history of this complicated family, she might find the pivotal clue that will solve the crime and show both detectives that she is indispensable.