Set in downtown Toronto in a hotel that is both seedy and glamorous where socialites meet, but so do petty crooks and gangsters who later turn up dead. The central observer of life at the Bradley House is Gilhooley, the barman, who has traveled widely to gather material for the writing career he plans. Gil not only has to cope with his brother's death, and with breaking the news to his parents, but is also expected to lend a sympathetic ear to the bar's customers.