First movie in the Lord John's Journal series. Detective novel author and war hero Lord John solves a mystery.

Cora Madison, the town flirt, delights in making men love her and then dropping them, so when newcomer Valentine Corliss arrives, she views him as just another potential victim. Rather than falling for her charms, however, Valentine persuades Cora to use them in getting her past suitors to invest money in one of his phony business deals. Cora soon falls in love with Valentine but also discovers, along with the other townspeople, that he has been swindling almost everyone and that he courted Cora simply to be able to use her well-respected father's name in connection with his business scam.