Writer Phoebe Hall's life comes crashing down when her boyfriend dumps her and her latest celebrity biography is accused of being a plagiarism. When her old boarding-school friend, Glenda Johns, offers a job teaching at a small Pennsylvania private collage, Phoebe takes the opportunity to try to start her life over. Then a girl student's body is found on campus, and accusations start flying from every corner about secret societies and dark doings among the coeds. Phoebe starts to investigate, and puts herself in the secret society's sights.