The #1 hostboy at Club Nova makes a handsome living, whispering sweet nothings in the ears of women who pay him a fortune for the privilege. But the party's over when Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura is assigned to investigate the death of one of Hoshi's customers, a young woman found dead after spending an evening with him.

While tracking down witnesses in Tokyo's red light district, Kenji crosses paths with his childhood friend Yumi Hata, who is trying to rescue her best friend from a host club entanglement. Yumi agrees to slip behind closed doors - where no men are allowed - to...

When Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura's phone rings with the news that his mother's death ten years ago wasn't an accident, his world begins to unravel. New evidence links her to a young woman, whose body was found dolled up like a movie star and tossed in the gutter like an abandoned plaything. With the help of part-time English translator Yumi Hata, Kenji begins to piece together what really happened the night his mother died. But the closer he gets to discovering who killed the Painted Doll, the more he fears that the truth will destroy all that's left of his fractured family.