When David Kincaid, an author down on his luck, is offered a dream assignment - to write about the death of a young man, the heir to a fortune - he can't resist taking it. The fee is enticing, and it's a paint-by-numbers job. The young man was high (so to speak), and he fell. It was an accident. Simple. To the police and the coroner, it was an open and shut case... but David finds that key witnesses have disappeared, or worse. And now, someone with muscle is taking an unhealthy interest in him.

David had a big reputation once; now he sees a chance to reclaim it. But to do so, he must persuade someone to give up a secret. And there's another problem: a killer with a to-do list that has David's name on it. To save his skin and solve the riddle of an innocent man's death, David must trade in lies and secrets - some of them his own.