Kisa and Sonya have grown up in an enchanted but troubled world. The enchantment comes from music and Kisa's penchant for listening to the dead. The trouble comes from those who want to steal their music, use them sexually, or involve them in espionage. Mom wants her daughters to pursue careers as virtuosi. Kisa and Sonya see themselves as composers, although Kisa also wants to be as heroic as her mom. During her study abroad semester in Russia, Kisa takes up with Ilya, who has been assigned to monitor American students. She hides her romance despite her difficulty coping with her boyfriend's attempts to use her in his dirty work. She doesn't realize she has brought her mother to the attention of the Russian internal security apparatus. Playing with the Dead is a seriocomic coming-of-age story about two sisters and their tangled love for a mysterious yet overwhelming mother whose Jewish ancestry is only one of her many secrets. Life in a practice room has not prepared Kisa to deal with her sister's death or her mother's world of violence, betrayal and intrigue.