widowed mystery writer marian carstairs is a mother of three living off the sales of her books. her children, dinah (14), april (12), and archie (10), inspired by reading their mother’s fictitious mystery novels, decide to take part in some amateur sleuthing when they hear shots in the house next door. understanding detective work from the novels, they take specific notes on clues that they encounter, but they also falsify their testimonies to the cops with the end goal of crediting the solved case back to their mother for publicity purposes. in addition to their detective work, the children also attempt to romantically connect the handsome police lieutenant, bill smith, on the case with their mother.