Harvey is a private investigator riding out a streak of bad luck. He successfully tracks an adulterous husband, only to find himself videotaping his own fiancee in bed with the man he has been paid to investigate. Quitting his job and wallowing in booze, Harvey begins a downward spiral, and meeting Katia doesn't help. This gorgeous mail-order bride has landed in Sydney from her native Russia, only to find her prospective groom dead on arrival. When Harvey's somewhat happily married friend Ethan falls for the lovely Katia, he asks Harvey to marry her to keep her from being deported. It sounds like a good deal--Ethan even offers to foot the bill to support Harvey's dream of writing the great Australian detective novel. But can Harvey and Katia play out the charade?