Police divers winch Donna's body from a reservoir. She'd been a beauty, had seemed an artless and popular young woman. Who'd want to strangle her? But Frank Crane, investigating, soon finds evidence of a dark side to her life. There have been so many people who might have wanted her dead that the case begins to look insoluble. He accepts help from a young crime reporter with extensive knowledge of Donna's background, and they begin to eliminate suspects. This highly competitive race to find the killer leads to an explosive ending, with the murderer's identity providing the biggest surprise of all in a case filled with shocks.