Plot summary

In early 1977 Los Angeles, those who know him probably consider Holland March--a widower, former police officer, and heavy drinker--the worst private detective they know. He's also not the greatest father; his 13-year-old daughter Holly March must often act as the adult in the house. Although he does bilk clients to keep a roof over his and Holly's heads--a rental in the Hollywood Hills--their seemingly never-to-be-realized plan is to rebuild their burnt-down house. A man who literally lives by his fists, Jackson Healy is a freelance enforcer, largely sticking up for those at risk--although for absolutely no less than the price he specifies. Jackson and Holland's paths cross when they have a mutual person of interest, a young woman named Amelia, who has hired Jackson to protect her against two unknown men who have been following her, and as she is associated to a missing woman's case on which Holland is working. That case is of porn actress Misty Mountains, whose aunt asked Holland to locate her; the nearsighted woman swears she saw Misty two days after she was known to have been killed in a very high-profile car accident. When Amelia goes missing too, Jackson and Holland join forces to locate her, knowing she's probably in danger of being killed by those two now not-so-unknown men and perhaps by others pulling strings behind the scenes, Jackson and Holland possibly getting caught in the crossfire in the process. Often along for the ride is Holly, who feels she can be of use to them in people opening up to her about information, feeling more comfortable around an innocent kid instead of two adult males. The probability that Amelia is in danger becomes more clear when almost everyone associated with Misty's last movie ends up dead, and Amelia does have a connection to it. Eventually, they learn of the reason Amelia has gone into hiding, which goes against what most people would consider common logic. However, Jackson, Holland, and Holly must sift through the rhetoric to discover the truth.—Huggo