The tangled cord

The slaying of a notorious city playboy and the disappearance of a successful young cartoonist are the kick-off for this lively-as-always Lockridge tale of murder and mystery.
When attractive Ann Dillard from Westchester, in New York for the day, finds herself stood up by her fiancé and receives a curiously vague note from him, she is puzzled and concerned. Can Clark's disappearance have anything to do with the murder of Sonny Underwood? Unable to leave the question unanswered, she sets out on a quest marked by strange incidents and threatened with danger. As the day progresses, confusion gathers momentum and peculiar individuals drift into Ann's search, including the bewildering Ferris and his sidekick, Yorke, whose perplexing changes of character occur regularly. By nightfall another murder has been committed and the action moves to the dark hills of Westchester County, where Captain Bill Weigand and a curious group assemble for the finale and Ann's clear-headed aunt proves herself handy with a gun.