1940, San Francisco: Ray Sherwood has arrived in town on tour with the Jack Donovan Orchestra and plenty of bad memories. But in meeting two women on the same day Ray is shaken out of his stupor. One of the women, Gail, wants his help in orchestrating her avant-garde composition Swing Around the Sun, the other will plunge to her death just moments after speaking to him. As there is more to Gail's motivations than meets the eye, Ray is pulled along a trail of music, murder and espionage against the backdrop of America preparing for war.