The victim of a swindle finds his trouble multiplying when he's accused of murder.

20-year-old Deborah Dearborn has just written a best selling novel about a cold and calculating woman who bears a strong resemblance to her boyfriend's stepmother. Now Deborah is living at a beach house in Malibu and in the process of selling the rights to her book to a movie producer. Then the stepmother, Stephanie Carew, appears on the scene threatening to sue for libel. When Stephanie's dead body is found floating in a swimming pool, Deborah is charged with the crime.