Laura

Young, beautiful and talented Laura Hunt is thought to have been murdered, since a body was found in her apartment, dressed in her clothes, though with face obliterated by a shotgun blast. A police detective sent to investigate the case, Mark McPherson, soon focusses his suspicions upon three people: Waldo Lydecker, a waspish journalist who maintained an ambivalent relationship with Laura (in spite of the considerable age difference he seems to have behaved on occasions like a jealous lover); Shelby Carpenter, a weak-willed playboy accustomed to living off any women who he can impress with his tall, athletic build; and Ann Treadwell, Laura's cynical aunt, who was jealous of Laura's relationship and possible forthcoming marriage with Shelby.