It is 1969. Protest wafts like smoke through the thick air, and Black private detective Easy Rawlins gets a visit from a white Vietnam veteran. The young man comes to Easy with a story that makes little sense, about his lover, a beautiful young woman, and a man he may have killed. Inclined to turn down what sounds like nothing but trouble, Easy takes the case when he realizes he can't ignore their bond as veterans. The veteran is not Easy's only unlooked-for trouble. His adopted daughter Feather's white uncle shows up uninvited, unsettling the life Easy has forged for her. Where Feather sees a family reunion, Easy suspects something else, something that will break his heart.