Clarissa, the second wife of Henry Hailsham Brown, is adept at spinning tales of adventure for their bored diplomatic circle. When a murder takes place in her drawing room she finds live drama much harder to cope with, especially as she suspects the murderer might be her young stepdaughter Pippa. Worse still, the victim is the man who broke up Henry's first marriage Clarissa's fast talking places her in some hair raising experiences, as she comes to learn that the facts are much more terrifying than fiction...