When Winston Chronicle crime reporter Rosemary Lostant is found beaten to death in her apartment, the police wonder if a story she was working on got her killed or if she had attracted a stalker. So when suspicion instead falls on Kim Whitaker, a sports writer at the same paper, fellow reporter Emily O'Brien is shocked. Determined to prove him innocent, Emily begins an investigation of her own, scouring Rosemary's notes for evidence and tracking down a recent parolee with an axe to grind.
But her progress is stalled when she has to turn her attention to covering the death of a Winston man who went overboard while with his wife on a cruise. What begins as a simple story quickly turns complicated as Emily realizes his own family, including his wife, may have wanted him dead.
As she attempts to sort out both murders, Emily's questions attract the attention of a killer, one who has no qualms about making her the next victim.