The Butler Did It - Again!

Publisher and socialite, indomitable Miss Maple rents a plantation house, complete with menacing alligator, in the frightening swamp land of Louisiana

She wants to introduce her latest literary discovery, Ruth Dice, who has written a first novel entitled Conversations with a Ghoul

Ruth has only contempt for the guests - classic detective prototypes like tough Chandler Marlow, chic Manhattan couple Rick and Laura Carlyle, westerner Tony Tallchief

She dismisses Louie Fan and gentle Father White as has-been hacks and so naturally, she's the perfect candidate for murder

However, it's the bizarre owner of the house of secrets, Jasper Van Dine, who's discovered in the parlor with a scalpel once belonging to Jack the Ripper in his back!

So Whodunnit?

It's up to the flakey detective writers to unravel the puzzle

Chills, thrills, alibis, clues, motives, and dazzling plot twists fly about the stage like pies-in-the-face where nothing is what it seems to be