This takes Pat and Jean Abbott to New Orleans, where a huge wartime population has overflowed into the French quarter, steeped in tradition and old-world ceremony. When murder is done amidst these incongruous elements, it takes ingenious sleuthing indeed to unravel the crime!

Pat and Jean are paying guests of a proud old Creole family, luxuriating in the charm of their surroundings, when Jean discovers a body at her very doorstep. Before Pat unmasks the murderer, the Abbotts meet a fascinating array of aristocrats and scoundrels.