He hasn't written anything new since his critically acclaimed novel debuted in 1922, and by 1927 Ernest Stringer is living in poverty with his artist lover in a drafty Greenwich Village flat when he meets Anthony Young, the prolific author of a bestselling mystery series. As regular patrons of the bohemian Romany Marie's Café, Ernest and Anthony strike up an unusual friendship. Four other authors join in their talks on the art of mystery writing. They call themselves The Murder Club. When they discuss the assertion made by Dostoyevsky's Raskolnikov, in Crime and Punishment: "A criminal is caught because at the time of his crime he loses the ability to reason," they ponder, if this holds true, how can one commit the perfect crime? When Ernest's life spirals out of control he realizes that he's in over his head.