When Decimus Fortesque, the millionaire collector of wives and rare manuscripts, hires Archy McNally to locate the Holy Grail of missing tomes-the complete text of Truman Capote's Answered Prayers-Palm Beach's premier P.I. uncovers nothing but scandal.

Luscious Claudia Lester claims to have had the manuscript but declares that her lover, Matthew Harrigan, ran off with it; a lover scorned, Harrigan says Claudia is lying. And Rodney Whitehead, a shady antiques dealer, maintains that neither Claudia nor Harrigan is to be believed. When the supposed owner of the manuscript is found dead in a sleazy motel, the investigating officer, Georgia O'Hara, suspects Archy knows more than he's willing to admit about the murder, the manuscript, and its ardent pursuers composed of ne'er-do-wells and flimflam artists.