Mild-mannered lawyer Walter Stackhouse hates his neurotic wife, Clara. He has suffered for years as she alienated all his friends and embarrassed him with her pettiness, overly dramatic gestures and intolerance of other people's needs. With Walter, she is increasingly distant and, without foundation, begins to accuse him of having an affair with the sweet and sensuous music teacher Ellie Briess. Walter does eventually become infatuated with Ellie and starts a relationship with her. Jealous Clara then attempts suicide by overdose, forcing Walter back into her arms. However, immediately upon recovering from near-death, Clara falls into her usual pattern; Walter finally stands his ground and demands a divorce.
Clara is then found dead, having fallen off a cliff during a rest interval while taking a bus to see her dying mother. It is likely suicide. In time, as the official investigation continues, Walter has to admit to a couple of questionable activities–stalking Clara's bus in his car, while daydreaming about possibly killing her at the first stop and visiting Melchior Kimmel, a bookshop manager who got away with killing his own wife, prior to Clara's death. Both Walter and Kimmel soon encounter the formidable, possibly psychotic Lieutenant Lawrence Corby, a police officer with savage ambition who is convinced they are both guilty. Corby soon begins encroaching on his suspects' lives, releasing details of their behavior to the press in an effort to distance them from their friends and work associates and repeatedly assaulting Kimmel.
Throughout, Walter's blundering damages his relationships, his reputation and soon threatens his life.
The novel starts off admirably both as suspense and as a deeper analysis of character, but passes the point of no return as the author gropes for (and fails to find) a way out of the intricate situation she has set up. Hardly a successful novel, but an ambitious and largely interesting attempt.
