In 1930 San Francisco, the bridges haven't yet been built, and although Prohibition is still in effect, the speakeasies are thriving. The Moore Detective Agency is two months and several fifths of whiskey away from closing its doors. When the wife of one of the most prestigious bankers knocks on their office door asking them to look for her wayward stepson, it could be the lifeline they need to keep the agency going. Unfortunately, Detective Nick Moore’s current client is his bootlegger, and the only case he cares about is the one that contains twelve bottles of bathtub gin. Secretary Maggie Laurent takes the case, assuming that Nick will find the missing stepson. When Nick dives even further into the world of Jim and Beam, she is determined to solve the case on her own. The stock market crash nine months earlier means jobs are hard to find, and Maggie needs this job to help support her widowed mother; she can’t wait for Nick to sober up. Maggie soon finds herself up to her neck in murder, arson, and the lies and double lives of San Francisco’s wealthy elite, a world where she’s seen as a nuisance at best and a threat at worst.