The murder of a youg woman and the disappearance of the body brings together the unlikely duo of Max Beckett, a crime novelist who has built his reputation on being a retired Scotland Yard inspector, and Nikki Page, an ambitious young newspaper obituary writer. 

Round 1 of a strange case begins when a distraught teenager pleads with Max and Nikki to search for his missing father - a boxer whose trainer is shot after denying that he ever knew the fighter. As the mystery unfolds, the two sleuths discover that no one should be taken at face value.