Just after Independence Day in July 1953 Violet Sullivan, a local good-time girl living in Serena Station, California, drives off in her brand new Chevy and is never seen again. Left behind are her young daughter Daisy, and Violet's impetuous husband Foley, who had been persuaded to buy his errant wife the car only days before...

Now, thirty-five years later, Daisy wants closure.

Reluctant to open such an old cold case, Kinsey Millhone agrees to spend five days investigating, believing at first that Violet simply moved on to pastures new. But very soon it becomes clear that a lot of people shared a past with Violet, a past that some are still desperate to keep hidden. And in a town as close-knit as Serena there aren't many places to hide when things turn vicious...