A journalist searches for the true story of his glamorous sibling's death

When rock star J. C. Tripper died, only his brother Lee was by his side, and in the decades since, Lee has been deviled by questions of what really happened that night in Tangier. He thinks he knows the truth, but his recollection of that final drug-soaked bender is about to be called into question.

An old acquaintance mails Lee a Nazi pistol and four Polaroid pictures of a dead body—an invitation to reopen a long-cold murder investigation. Lee then reconnects with Sam Innis, onetime best friend to the brothers Tripper, who urges him to track down J.C.'s former bandmates and music industry contacts. That night, Lee's girlfriend, a bestselling conspiracy theorist, is tortured to death in her tub. As his brother comes back to haunt him, Lee must unravel the mystery of J.C.'s last days, or risk joining him behind the velvet rope at the great after-party in the sky.