The wealthy families of Boston's Beacon Hill like to keep their affairs private. When art objects disappear, when family members go missing, or when bodies turn up in unexpected places, they all turn to Jeremy Dance for damage control. On New Year's Day 1936, Jeremy Dance is having a quiet dinner with this assistant Roscoe and his best friend Judy Hogarth, when Jeremy is called in to investigate an "unpleasantness" at an exclusive Boston men's club. Jeremy Dance is young, rich, and tough as nails. In an age of intolerance and conformity, Jeremy has the courage to stand up against racism, classism, injustice and the audacity to be subversively gay.