According to the evening news, real estate agent Laurie Martin is missing and possibly dead. Marla and Al happen to have seen her having dinner with an attractive man several days before. The man is Steve Mallard, husband, father, and prime suspect in Laurie's disappearance. Believing that there's more to the story than meets the eye, Marla and Al quickly find themselves on a cross-country manhunt trailing a chillingly remorseless criminal to prove Mallard's innocence.

Elizabeth Adler's previous novel, Sooner or Later, was a hardcover selection of the Mystery Guild, and a Reader's Digest Condensed Book. In paperback, it was selected for the Doubleday Book Club and as an Alternate Selection of the Literary Guild.