In a quiet seaside village, an ethereal young wife, a seventy-year-old, adored grandmother, and a cocaine-using, athletic nymphomaniac have been murdered in their homes. They have never met and seemingly share nothing in common, except Stephen Macomber-their hard-bodied, handsome housecleaner. When Stephen becomes a suspect, his lover, Donald Sebastion, and his sixty-year-old friend, Laura English, a modern-day Miss Marple, join forces to clear his name. With the help of Stephen's lawyer and the first victim's younger sister, they doggedly pursue all leads, placing themselves in ever-increasing danger. But before the amateur sleuths realize the shocking truth, more savage murders rock the town and the killer escapes. The friends are content to have cleared Stephen's name. But in doing so, they have learned too much about people within the village-people with unlikely alliances who have a great deal to lose-and who have no intention of allowing the five friends to bring them to justice.