Daisy Lowendahl is a best-selling suspense novelist who has been receiving threatening letters ever since an incident occurred in which a man killed a woman and claimed that he was inspired to do it by one of her novels. At a public even a man angrily accuses her of being responsible for the murder. She is frightened by the man and is plagued by a fear of being attacked when she is alone. At the suggestion of her husband she takes a short vacation at her isolated beach house, where she is visited by Spencer Weaver, a local young fan who knows almost everything about her. Her next visitor is Eddie Bruno, who claims to be a police detective and warns her that Spencer may be dangerous to her. Spencer insists that Eddie is not a cop and after a struggle Eddie is overpowered and tied up. Eddie begins revealing personal details about Daisy, claiming that her husband hired him to kill her that night.