Camille Howland

Reporter Sheldon Merrill's plans for a relaxing three-day weekend are shattered early Friday morning when she awakens to the sound of sirens and the ringing of her telephone. Her newspaper editor tells her to cover the raging fire at a neighboring farm complex owned by friends who had been the subject of her first agricultural page story. The conflagration takes a devastating toll on the dairy herd, but soon a more grisly discovery is made: that of a woman's battered body. Murder and arson are terrifying news in the small city of Westburgh, New York.

But the fatal fire scene is not the only intrigue Sheldon finds herself coping with on a weekend that gives her little peace of mind. Mystery surrounds both the handsome, eccentric benefactor David P. Bradford and his dying sister Lucille, who makes a shocking confession to Sheldon, accompanied by a plea for help. Just as it seems that life is settling down to normal, Sheldon opens her door to a knock...and faces the murderer.