The fog rolled in off the Atlantic, curling around the mansions of Newport's elite and settling into the gutters where their secrets festered. Walter Westbrook, a silver-haired industrialist, had a problem money couldn't fix. His wife Arianna was young, beautiful, and just reckless enough to keep the tabloids interested. Now she was stepping out on him, or so he suspected.

Duke Jameson, an ex-cop turned private eye, is hired to follow her around and report back. When Arianna vanishes, Duke finds himself neck-deep in a mystery that leads from the plush drawing rooms of Newport's high society to its beer-soaked docks, where an Irish racketeer runs a numbers racket and breaks kneecaps. Add a college professor with a taste for scandal and a Newport heiress who knows more than she lets on.

And someone—maybe everyone—wants Duke dead before he can find Arianna.