Private detective Philip Marlowe is awoken in the middle of the night by his friend Terry Lennox, who needs a lift to Tijuana. Marlowe obliges without questioning and returns home only to get entangled in a police investigation: Lennox's wife has been murdered, and Terry is the prime suspect. As Marlowe brushes off the police's efforts to pin him down as an accomplice, he learns that Lennox committed suicide. Disbelieving this turn of events, Marlowe starts his own investigation into the truth behind Terry’s actions and his wife's murder.

While probing deeper, Marlowe gets involved with a novelist named Roger Wade, whose wife enlists Marlowe's help in dealing with Roger's erratic behavior. The detective’s journey takes him through a web of connections involving the Wades, Terry Lennox, and Eileen, Roger’s enigmatic wife. Marlowe’s unconventional methods and sharp wit lead him through a labyrinth of deceit, betrayal, and vulnerability. As he peels back the layers of secrecy, each revelation brings him closer to understanding the dark complexities surrounding his friend's mysterious death and the intertwined fate of those he's encountered.