Entertainment critic and film noir author Carroll Quint gets a panicky call from his mother, former movie starlet Karen Kaas. Vicky Vandamn, a roommate of Karen's some thirty years ago when they worked at Talbot Studios, disappeared from Hollywood under mysterious circumstances. Now she's been found dead on her houseboat in nearby Sausalito, a reported suicide victim. Quint's mother is certain that Vicky, who was involved with a rough Hollywood crowd, was murdered. "Act like one of those private eyes in your book, dear, and find out who killed her." Quint tries to do just that, and soon finds himself tangled up with lazy cops, a paranoid PI, a billionaire former movie-studio head, and a Peeping Tom-who kept a very close eye on Vandamn. When all appears to be lost, Quint's mother comes up with a revealing old still photo and a clue involving Fred Astaire's hands that set Quint on a collision course with the murderer.