The Late Show

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard works the midnight shift, known as "the late show," in the Hollywood Division with her partner, John Jenkins. Their job is to handle initial investigations at overnight crime scenes before turning the cases over to dayside detectives. Ballard was exiled to this undesirable post after filing a sexual harassment complaint against her supervisor in the elite Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD), Lieutenant Robert Olivas, a claim her then-partner, Ken Chastain, failed to support. Their first call of the shift is a burglary at the home of Leslie Anne Lantana, an elderly woman whose wallet was stolen. Ballard grows frustrated when the credit card company’s overseas fraud department refuses to provide a shipping address for an attempted fraudulent purchase, knowing the case will likely go cold.

Ballard and Jenkins are then diverted to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center for a brutal assault case. The victim, found dumped in a parking lot, has been severely beaten with what appear to be brass knuckles and has bite marks on her body. Before losing consciousness, she told responding officers her name might be Ramona and that she was attacked at "the upside-down house." Ballard discovers the victim is a transgender prostitute named Ramona Ramone. Believing the day shift will neglect the case, Ballard argues with Jenkins to keep it, but he refuses, citing their protocol.

Their shift is further complicated by a call from the watch commander, Lieutenant Munroe, about a mass shooting at The Dancers nightclub. Jenkins is sent to the scene, while Ballard remains at the hospital for the fifth victim, a waitress named Cynthia "Cindy" Haddel. Ballard watches Haddel die and retrieves a small key on a string from around her neck. At the chaotic crime scene, she learns a gunman shot three men in a booth before killing a bouncer and Haddel on his way out. Ballard has a tense encounter with Lieutenant Olivas, who is leading the RHD investigation, and her former partner, Ken Chastain. While Olivas dismisses her, Ballard sees Chastain surreptitiously bag a small black object from the floor.

Olivas assigns Ballard the menial tasks of processing Haddel's belongings and notifying her family. After another humiliating confrontation with Olivas, Ballard and Jenkins go to Haddel's apartment. By pressing the deceased's thumb to the phone's sensor at the hospital, Ballard unlocks it and calls Haddel's parents to deliver the news. Back at the station, a walk-in witness, Zander Speights, provides a cell phone photo that captured the muzzle flash of the first shot. Chastain arrives to take custody of the witness and the phone. He offers Ballard a halting apology for his past inaction, which she angrily rejects.

Ballard's off-duty life consists of living in her van, sleeping in a tent on Venice Beach with her dog, Lola, and paddleboarding. She decides to unofficially pursue the Ramona Ramone case and gets reluctant permission from her superiors. Searching LAPD records, she finds a three-year-old vice case involving Thomas Trent, who was arrested with brass knuckles inscribed with "GOOD" and "EVIL." His address is a hillside home that could be described as "upside-down." Posing as a car buyer, Ballard meets Trent and confirms he has fresh bruises on his knuckles and a prejudice against transgender people. She later stages a fake prowler call to scout his house, where she sees a bare room on the lowest level.

The Lantana burglary is resolved when the credit card company provides the shipping address, leading Ballard to arrest a parolee named Christopher Nettles and clear a string of local burglaries. On Saturday morning, Ballard learns that Chastain has been murdered, execution-style, in his garage. She goes to the scene but is ordered away by Olivas. Suspecting a cover-up, she hacks into Chastain's computer files and discovers the three men killed in the booth knew each other from jail. Chastain's notes on the autopsy of one victim, Gordon Fabian, mention a "battery burn," suggesting he was wearing a wire. Ballard interviews Fabian's lawyer, Dean Towson, who confirms Fabian was considering giving up a corrupt cop to federal authorities. She also learns that Zander Speights's friend, Matthew "Metro" Robison, called Chastain on Friday afternoon and has since disappeared.

Ballard interviews Trent's ex-wife, Beatrice Beaupre, a porn director, who confirms Trent called his home "the upside-down house" and collected "GOOD" and "EVIL" brass knuckles. She gives Ballard a key to the house. Trent, who Ballard suspects discovered she is a cop by running her van's plates, tracks her to her grandmother's house in Ventura and abducts her. Ballard awakens naked and bound with zip ties to a chair in the lower room of Trent's house. Trent reveals he knows she is a cop, finds the key from his ex-wife, and leaves to abduct Beaupre, drugging Ballard again with ketamine. Ballard wakes a second time and frees herself by using friction to heat and expand the plastic zip ties. Trent returns with an unconscious Beaupre. Ballard ambushes him, and in the ensuing struggle, she fatally stabs him with a splintered piece of wood from the chair before calling 911.

Ballard is investigated by the Force Investigation Division (FID), led by Lieutenant Joseph Feltzer. A negative story is leaked to the Los Angeles Times, suggesting the department is building a case against her. With help from Dean Towson, Ballard discovers Feltzer is the source of the leak and secretly records him meeting with the reporter. They use the video to pressure Feltzer into expediting a "within policy" finding and steering a corrective, heroic narrative to the press.

Cleared and back at work, Ballard learns the official investigation, led by Olivas, now theorizes that Chastain was the Dancers shooter and was killed in a mob hit. The theory is fueled by ballistics and the fact that Chastain's service weapon is missing from the murder scene. Ballard discovers Cynthia Haddel's evidence bag was opened and resealed. Inside, Chastain left a clue: a business card with the name "Eric Higgs VMD." Higgs, a professor, reveals Chastain mailed him a small cap from a Lawmaster brand shoulder holster and left a note to trust Ballard. Using Vacuum Metal Deposition (VMD), Higgs lifted a thumbprint from the cap. Ballard takes the print to a trusted contact, who matches it to Detective Rogers Carr, a member of the murder task force.

Ballard and Olivas set a trap for Carr at the Metropolitan Detention Center. After his arrest, ballistics confirm Carr's weapons were used in both the Dancers massacre and Chastain's murder. The motive is revealed: Robison had seen Carr on a TV news report, recognized him as the shooter, and called Chastain. Carr, monitoring the investigation, realized Chastain was onto him, so he killed Chastain and attempted to frame him. Remembering a safe house she and Chastain used as partners, Ballard goes to the Mark Twain hotel with Jenkins and finds Robison alive. Ballard rejects Olivas's offer to return to RHD, telling him she will never work for him again. The novel ends with Ballard back on Venice Beach, paddleboarding and reflecting on Chastain's final actions as a form of redemption.