The morning after the celebration of the 85th birthday of Harlan Tromby, a famous author of crime novels, the celebrant is found dead. There is an obvious suicide, but the police according to protocol questioned all present in the mansion family members, although, in this case more interested in private detective Benoit Blanc. That same morning, he receives an envelope of cash from an unknown person and an order to investigate Harlan's death. It is not necessary to be an experienced investigator to realize that everyone embellishes their relationship with the deceased head of the family, but Blanc gets a real gift - the nurse of the deceased, who physically can not stand lies.