When Princess Toadstool tries on a new pair of red hightopped sneakers, the shoes suddenly dash from the room with the Princess still in them. Her Highness has been kidnapped by Ludwig von Koopa to star in his basketball ballet.

When the body of a young Hispanic woman dressed as Marie Antoinette is dredged from the Detroit River, the Detroit Police Department wants the case closed fast. Wayne County Coroner Dr. Bobby Falconi gives the woman's photo to August Snow, insisting August show it around his native Mexican town to see if anyone recognises her. August's good friend Elena recognises the woman immediately. Her story is one the authorities don't want getting around - and she's not the only young woman to have disappeared during an ICE raid, only to turn up dead a few weeks later. August Snow, ex-police detective, will not sit by and watch his neighbours suffer in silence.