Malcolm Drake had been a merchant seaman but he had a nervous breakdown and now he lives in his brother's house with his sister-in-law and her sister, Virginia-and domineering Aunt Evie. When Aunt Evie drops dead at a party one evening the rumors quickly spread that he had something to do with it. And now the police are starting to ask questions. Drake is enmeshed in a net of cobwebs, unable to trust his own thoughts, and the strands are growing tighter by the moment."For my money she's the top suspense writer of them all."-Raymond Chandler