Synopsis Woes

Today I am tackling the synopsis for my urban fantasy manuscript.  The process is much more difficult than one would expect.  Trying to decide what to put in and what to leave out while ensuring that it doesn't go over the one-page standard length is proving to be a difficult task.  This is particularly true when the story has many subplots and elements to keep track of.  

The way this story is constructed is very much like detective or crime fiction, in that the protagonist has to 'figure out' what's really going on.  Trying to remember what the main character is supposed to and is not supposed to know at any given point can be tricky when you are a non-sequential drafter like myself (i.e. I didn't write the story from start to finish).  

Image (c) Rafael Anderson Gonzales 2007

Similarly, how much of what's going on do I reveal in the synopsis?  Do I need to include the fact that someone put a dead bird in the protagonist's desk?  Do I need to describe her mother's illness, despite the fact that she only appears in the first two chapters?

We practiced doing a synopsis for my major project (the same manuscript actually) during final semester of university.  I am thankful for this, as I have something to work from, but the perfectionist in me is making life very difficult today.