San Francisco, 1904. Marie Chevalier is a poor but ambitious young actress who believes her luck has finally turned when, after a whirlwind romance, she marries Magnus Able ? a wealthy older man with a magnetic personality and a mysterious past. But when Magnus is murdered on their wedding night, Marie becomes the prime suspect.
Convinced the killer's motive lies buried in Magnus's murky past, Marie and her firebrand sister, Eliza, set out to uncover the secret life of the husband Marie never got the chance to know. Together, they journey from the glamorous heights of Nob Hill to the seedy depths of the Barbary Coast on their quest to clear Marie's name and find a killer.