A year before World War I breaks out, Manhattan is crowded with newcomers, including sharp-witted young Louise Faulk, who has fled Altoona, Pennsylvania, to start a new life. But in this series debut, the glitter fades when Louise's Greenwich Village apartment becomes the scene of a murder, and a former suitor is the prime suspect. Driven to investigate the crime, Louise finds herself stepping into the seediest corners of the burgeoning metropolis—where she soon discovers that failed dreams can turn dark and deadly.