Isobel Blackwell comes calling on private investigator Lew Archer unexpectedly, just minutes before her husband is scheduled to meet with the detective. She is concerned about her stepdaughter, Harriet. The young woman is about to come into a large trust fund, and she wants to marry a handsome, penniless artist named Burke Damis. Isobel has no objection to the marriage, but Harriet's father, Colonel Blackwell, is staunchly opposed. He asks Archer to investigate Damis, and Archer agrees, partly because he's attracted to Mrs. Blackwell. Murders past and present crowd the investigation as various leads take Archer to Mexico, Lake Tahoe, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Los Angeles.