Paul Newman is back as Harper, the wisecracking private investigator. This time out he goes to New Orleans to help out an old flame, Iris Deveraux (Newman’s real-life wife, Joanne Woodward). After the murder of her mother- in-law, someone implicates Iris and attempts to blackmail her. Harper has more suspects than he needs—Iris' sixteen-year-old Lolita-esque daughter (Melanie Griffith in only her second role), a former chauffer, a businessman and his kinky wife, and even Iris herself. What he uncovers is a web of tangled affairs and distractions all clouded by the murky water of the drowning pool.