Buck Ames, the stuntman turned private detective who made his first appearance in the book Murder at Republic, is back in his newest mystery. Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Pictures and the most hated man in Hollywood, hires Buck Ames to investigate the background of a young actress. But when that actress turns up dead, Buck knows that there is more to this case than he has been told. His only clue refers to two serials that Columbia is about to make, Batman and The Phantom. Can there be a connection? Before you turn the last page, more bodies turn up. As if that was not enough, police detective Bill Hanlan, Buck's old nemesis, is also back. Can Buck in his 1937 Cord Convertible beat the police to the murderer or will cigar-smoking Cop Hanlan stop Buck in his tracks before he can save Columbia Pictures studio from a devastating scandal?