When Lou McCartney, fashion reporter on The Post, finds out that her estranged half-sister Scarlett has gone missing in Japan, she's left reeling. Scarlett was catapulted to fame as a child model, but ten years later her career has stalled. In a desperate bid for work, Scarlett decamps to Tokyo, where she survives on the dark edges of the industry. Then, suddenly, she disappears. Despite Lou's complex relationship with her sister, she is determined to find her. She calls upon her best friend, Annie Anderson, a former investigative reporter and editor of fashion bible, Handbag magazine. Combining Lou's knowledge of the fashion world and Annie's nose for trouble, the two follow the trail in search of Scarlett - from London to New York to Tokyo. Their search leads them into the darker corners of the fashion world, where they learn that in the ugly business of making beauty, you're lucky to come out alive.