Former film industry insider Katlin Wallace thinks she has left everything that has to do with Hollywood behind her when she and her husband retire to Florida. What she hadn't counted on was her husband walking out on her, or her best friend Helen calling from Studio City to beg her to come back. Helen's daughter, Lane Allison, once America's Sweetheart of the Cinema, has been accused of murdering her producer husband. Witnesses claim they saw Lane Allison push her producer husband down a flight of stairs during a party. Helen needs Katie to see them through the worst nightmare of their life.

Feisty, quick-witted and sharp-tongued Katlin arrives to offer moral support, but unwittingly exposes an adoring ex-wife, a conniving relative, a Bible-thumping lover, a crafty brother-in-law, a suspicious acting secretary who can't stop crying, and a foreign student with his own reasons for wanting Richard Wagnor dead. Each of them has motive and opportunity, but how could they have killed him when everyone saw Lane do it? And why is Katlin suddenly on someone's hit list? The fast-moving, often funny but always chillingly entertaining, trail leads to twists and turns intended to take Katlin's breath away-permanently. Were it not for her curiosity and stubborn determination, a cunning killer would have gotten away with the perfect murder.