Erwin Tennyson is an unemployed newspaper writer who made his living reviewing detective novels. When he stumbles over a woman's dead body in the park, he reports his find to the budget-challenged Austin, Texas police. Erwin is convinced the woman was murdered, and he is appalled when he learns the police have listed her demise as a "Jane Doe suicide." When he can't find another paid reviewer's position, Erwin decides to become a private investigator to try to earn a living—and to track down the woman's killer.