Promoter Harris Crown is killed when the car he is driving goes off a cliff. Burke soon discovers that all the brake fluid had been drained and that the car belonged to Crown's wife (a race car enthusiast) who is involved in a charity benefit and ""involved"" with the benefit's choreographer, who in turn is being kept by a wealthy (and jealous) society matron. Other suspects include Crown's strapped-for-cash brother and his greedy wife, and Crown's current mistress. Burke is assisted in his search for the killer by a gossip columnist and a shop owner (who takes a sudden shine to Burke, until she finds that he's a ""poor"" cop).

Burke is attending a pool party at tycoon Victor Haggerty's mansion when dashing Beau Sparrow is thrown into the pool by a faulty diving apparatus and dies. The apparatus doesn't seem to have been tampered with and George McLeod can't determine the cause of death. Was it murder? If so, who's the killer: the tycoon, his spoiled pampered wife, her paid companion, the countess who was Beau's current flame, the tough-as-nails secretary, or the blowhard businessman? As soon as Burke figures out who the culprit is, he has to rush to prevent another death.