Cordelia Gray is a young, aspiring private detective learning the ropes from her mentor, disgraced ex-policeman Bernie Pryde. But when Pryde's sudden suicide leaves Cordelia the sole proprietor of his ramshackle agency, she is forced to continue her education on the job. With only Mrs Sparshott, the agency's longtime secretary and her new assistant on the team, Cordelia finds herself thrust headfirst into unfamiliar waters.