It's the beginning of holiday season 1982, yet Marti Hirsch's mood is anything but festive. Her writing career is at a standstill, her musician husband is teaching at a posh private school for the children of Manhattan's smart set, and Marti is reduced to being a gal Friday/confidante to her good chum from her hell-raising years, artist-of-the-moment Jana Crowley. While overseeing Jana's holiday bash in her chic penthouse, Marti is requested by Jana's husband to find his absent wife. Knowing that the unhappy hostess is sipping Scotch in the building's laundry room, Marti heads to the basement-only to find Jana's lifeless body. The police detective handling the investigation holds a nasty grudge against Marti from her previous fling with sleuthing. The embittered cop gets his revenge by making Marti his prime suspect. But Marti knows a lot more that she's willing to tell the police. In fact, she knows so much about Jana's life-that might cost her own.