You never forget your first corpse. For former child star Jarrod Jarvis, that discovery was twenty-plus years ago, and a lot has happened since he solved a string of real-life Hollywood murders. Now Jarrod lives in Palm Springs where he writes and directs local theatre, while quietly grieving the loss of his partner, police detective Charlie.

Jarrod hasn't disclosed much about his sleuthing past to his daughter, Liv, who just earned a degree in criminal justice. There's been distance between them since Charlie's death, and Jarrod's unsure how to bridge the gap. Liv, meanwhile, has put her career on hold in order to help her filmmaker boyfriend, Zel. His new documentary idea is to track down the surrogate who gave birth to Liv. Skeptical and annoyed by Zel's pressure tactics, Liv goes to confront him at his apartment. But there's no need to break things off--because someone has bludgeoned Zel to death.

Jarrod rushes to Liv's aid, surprising his daughter with his ease around a crime scene, firing off questions like a modern-day Columbo with better hair and wardrobe. Another shock is quite how many people had motive to finish Zel off--including a Russian film professor, a former First Lady, and a sexy Secret Service agent. Together, Liv and Jarrod comb for clues across the sun-drenched Coachella valley, growing close again. But while there's nothing like murder to bring a family together, this father-daughter reunion may be short-lived as long as a killer is on the loose . . .