Crime-scene photographer Michael Kapinsky’s life is a mess. He is staggering to come to terms with the recent death of his wife and the financial burden she left behind. Then his psychologist persuades him to enter a virtual world called Second Life to participate in a new kind of group therapy. There, in the persona of his avatar — Brad Pitt look-alike Chas Chesnokov — Michael soon discovers that murder is not confined to the real world. Victims whose crime scenes he has attended in the Southern California resort of Newport Beach have had their avatars clinically executed in the virtual world. Co-opted into the Twist of Fate Detective Agency, Chas embarks upon an investigation with exotic dancer and escort girl. Together they uncover a series of killings and a financial scam that is netting the murderer millions of real dollars. But when Michael is tempted by the money that mysteriously appears in Chas’ Second Life account, both his real and virtual lives are put in danger