After a woman's niece is shot and killed in a botched robbery attempt, she suspects that she was intentionally murdered and hires Barnaby Jones to investigate.

Barnaby looks into the suicide of a woman who was married to a famous writer. Digging deeper into the case he discovers that the writers worst critic may actually be his biggest fan, and that his wife's suicide is looking more like murder.

Betty urges Barnaby to look into the death of an old girlfriend, and they soon discover that another old girlfriend of Betty's is directly involved in her death.