The war is over, but the killing is not. Guests, invited and uninvited, gather at the mountain villa of their wealthy friend, Utagawa Kazuma, to spend the summer of 1947. Soon after the arrival of these writers, actors, and artists and their tangled relationships of love, fame, and money, the first murder victim is discovered then another and another. The host, his guests, and an assortment of unusual police detectives struggle to find the murderer during this long, hot summer.