Miss Small and Miss Brady do everything to make their boarders feel safe and secure: Hope House is one of the few places in new York City where a young working woman could enjoy a homey atmosphere at very little cost. When Ruth Miller moves in, however, the atmosphere seems to change, and when her body is found in the courtyard, the miasma engulfing Hope House becomes stifling. suddenly no one in Hope House is quite what she seems, and no one is above suspicion . . .