Anna Zendel: suspended therapist by day, retired burlesque performer and reluctant troupe director Velvet Crush by night, 24/7 single young woman trying desperately to escape the press and her own PTSD. Now that the alleged Darling Killer is in a coma, Anna reinvents the Chicago Cabaret as an edgy and diverse burlesque experience. Audiences cheer in sold-out shows for the familiar faces and the new... but Velvet won't set foot on stage anymore. Just as the new show takes off, Anna receives a gory new message on a troupe member's body: keep performing and they live. Anna's stage training and psychological savvy arm her for another deadly dance, but a series of sinister accidents threatens the survival of everyone she loves while a killer watches her from the wings.