Several months after moving into the Twin Palms Manor, a Room and Board facility in the old Westlake District of Los Angeles, retired police detective and widower, Ben Hollister suddenly vanishes, without a trace. Alarmed by his disappearance, Hollister's daughter, Dianne, begins to investigate. After speaking with Kate Barlow, the owner and manager of the Room and Board home, and getting nowhere, Dianne enlists the aid of Detective Lt. Frank McElroy, incidentally, a friend of her father.

McElroy, in turn, assigns Detective Joe Kellermann, to physically move into the house, as part of an undercover operation. It is here that the young detective becomes involved with a myriad of characters-as one tenant describes it, Kate Barlow's menagerie of misfits. We soon learn that Hollister was the third tenant to have gone missing, in as many months.

A roller coaster ride of suspense and greed-a woman's nefarious obsession to break all the rules. An illicit tale of deception, conspiracy, betrayal and murder.