Lola Starke is a PI with a trust fund. Not that she gets everything she wants—or doesn't want. Like being rid of her Ghost, Aubrey O'Connell, for instance. But in Crescent City, Ghosts are commonplace and Hosts are supposed to be happy about it. So Lola's learned to bide her time. It's served her well as a gwai girl raised in a Chinese city. When two disparate clients won't take 'no' for an answer, Lola reluctantly agrees to both. She and Aubrey are quickly entangled in a murky puzzle of government officials, drug addicts, angry cops, and the gossamer threads of a dangerous plot. Soon enough, the past comes calling with bad news and worse enemies. This is the '30s and this is Crescent City, where mah-jongg parlours and film studios hold sway. Where the City's highest official is a Ghost with unimpeachable power and a history with Lola's mother. Where secrets last only as long as it takes money to change hands—or a gun to pry them loose.

A chance reunion with her schoolgirl crush, Stuey Lim, has Lola Starke dreaming of new possibilities, but her nascent hopes are brutally crushed as she witnesses Stuey and his best friend, Tommy, a world-famous comedian, gunned down in front of Crescent City's most exclusive club. Shocked and grieving, Lola is nonetheless duty-bound to investigate the deaths at the request of her mentor, Nicky Lo. Puzzling out the intricate history of Tommy's tight-knit show business family, intent on guarding their status as closely as their secrets, is dangerous enough. But Lola must also protect Stuey's parents from a gangster with suspect claims to Stuey's cherished missing pocket watch—all while navigating a new phase in her contentious relationship with her Ghost, Aubrey. This is the '30s and this is Crescent City, where hauntings are a normal part of life and magic-fuelled funeral rites determine the dead's journey in the sacred cycle of reincarnation. Where traditions and family can nurture a comedic genius—or destroy him. And where, no matter how old the secret, blood will out.

\\\ Library Journal SELF-e Selection \\\ Enter the world of Crescent City, an alternate history 1930s "Chinese Los Angeles" and home turf of private investigator, Lola Starke... A simple job. A den of thieves. A woman committed to the truth. It's a straightforward find a missing husband who spends his days examining stamps. Still reeling from recent tragedy, however, PI Lola Starke wants to pass altogether, more so since her ghost, Aubrey, insists it's the perfect case to ease back into things. But the wife is adamant that something bad has happened. What's a shamus to do—especially when the missing man works just down the hall? But straight ain't in the cards, not in the middle of a high-stakes business deal involving the City's most powerful film studio, a wily gangster, a shady fence for stolen goods, a rival PI...and a rare stamp. When her client is kidnapped, Lola discovers just how far down the twisting path she's willing to go to save the woman and her missing husband. This is the '30s and this is Crescent City, where gangsters and thieves are thick on the ground and the film studios are the biggest game in town. Where smiles hide secrets and good intentions mean nothing. Where the only question is, what will it take to be last woman standing?