Bill Stuart is an artist in a New York City advertising agency. He came to Florida to collect seashells and meet pretty girls on the beach. Champ Lane is the boss of a corrupt political machine. He came to Florida to collect seashells while avoiding the Grand Jury back home. Valerie is a pretty girl on the beach. She came to find Champ Lane but found a corpse first. And the local police chief keeps getting good ideas about identifying Valerie as the murderer. This mystery would have been grim if it didn't keep the reader laughing so hard.