A 1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud is a fantastically expensive car,
especially in the pristine condition of the one owned by Muriel
Cantrell. Living in a luxury apartment building on Central Park West,
the delicate, sweet 75-year-old woman is a neighbor of Merilee Nash, the
beautiful movie star, and Stuart Hoag, whose first book was a sensation
but whose career crashed when he became involved with drugs and alcohol.
Divorced ten years earlier, Hoagy has been welcomed back into Merilee's
life and apartment.
Apparently universally beloved in her building, residents are shocked
when Muriel is murdered after a Halloween party. No one takes it harder
than her long-time chauffeur, Bullets Durmond, whose previous job was as
an enforcer for the mob. Who in the world would want to harm the
silver-haired lady whose major vices were buying shoes and Chanel suits
(always in cash), and watching day-time soap operas?
Lieutenant Romaine Very of the NYPD is called to investigate and again
seeks help from his friend Hoagy who, along with his basset hound Lulu,
has been an invaluable aide in the past. The investigation leads to the
unexpected source of Muriel's wealth, the history of her early years as
a hatcheck girl at the Copacabana, how her chauffeur came to be called
Bullets, her desperate meth-head nephew, and her wealthy neighbors, who
have secrets of their own.
