Meredith Ogden is at the top of her game in Hollywood as Legwoman (assistant in modern terms) to Bettina Grant, the country's most widely read celebrity gossip columnist. But life changes for the 36-year-old journalist when she arrives for work at Grant's Bel Air home-office on a December morning in 1983 to find her famous boss dead, murdered. A book manuscript lies on the floor next to the death bed, written by Meredith's predecessor Cassie Ainsworth. When and how did it arrive? Where has Ainsworth been for the past decade and why is she coming back now?
Partnering with High-Profile crimes detective T.K. Raymond to find out who killed Grant and why, Meredith faces more than questions or answers. A volatile TV night-show host lobs threats because of a damaging news investigation about his background, Grant's children arrive from out of town and have demands on the office and its cache of valuable celebrity files. Meredith's own condo is broken into and searched, and she is assaulted. Although personally she knows more than anyone about Grant's friends, enemies, affairs— and predators, Meredith cannot find a reason for the murder. But someone can and she becomes the killer's next target. Reeling from the loss of her decades-long mentor-friend and the threats to her own life, she resolves to continue the deadline-driven high-pressure daily gossip machine, even though her media bosses don't consider her their top choice as Grant's permanent replacement.
With T.K. Raymond's help, and that of an unlikely team of colleagues, against the backdrop of Hollywood's glitterati and fanfare, Meredith deals with the threats to herself, her future and even ghosts from her own past brought up by the emotional chaos. When Bettina Grant's ex-husband Larry and his new fiancé suddenly emerge as unexpected players, and Meredith confronts her predecessor and competitor Cassie Ainsworth, she begins to find some personal peace and clarity. She also forges a path for herself in the future of Hollywood gossip as TV changes the landscape in 1983.