New York mystery editor Claire Rawlings spends her days scrutinizing the motives and methods of fictitious criminals—but her precocious 13 year-old friend Meredith Lawrence has a keen eye for the cold, hard facts of crime. So when Meredith comes to visit, the two mystery buffs put their heads together to sleuth out the truth about a real-life murder. Claire's star author, the ferociously flirtatious Blanche Dubois, is found dead after eating a poisoned apple and there's no shortage of suspects. Many were jealous of her success, and many put off by her haughty, demanding demeanor. With the help of a detective, Claire and Meredith question Blanche's friends, colleagues, and relatives—and discover that even in the Big Apple, the world of murder is a very small world indeed.