Just why did Liam Jenkins apparently disappear off the face of the earth a year ago? Why did he abandon his car late one Friday night on one of Sydney's northern beaches? Who was the mysterious woman he was seeing in the weeks before he disappeared who he said was making him so happy and yet he hadn't introduced her to his friends? And what does his disappearance have to do with a civil war taking place thousands of miles away in another country?
Sydney-based private investigator Stephanie Marshall is asked by a woman called Valerie Gardner who claimed to be Liam's best friend, to investigate his disappearance after the police ruled it as suicide and have effectively closed down the case. She seems like such a genuine, concerned woman but the more Stephanie peels off the layers the more she begins to doubt the sincerity of Valerie. Why had she waited a year before hiring a private investigator? Why did everyone Stephanie talked to say that Valerie had fallen out with Liam shortly before he'd disappeared when Valerie herself denied that? And why did everyone say that Valerie would have an ulterior motive for wanting to find Liam now? Is Valerie trying to cover something up that will prove to be much more sinister than her friend's disappearance?
The investigation takes Stephanie through southeast Asia and then back to Australia. It becomes one of her most complicated cases but when she gets to the real truth it threatens several lives, including her own.