The definition of an owl had always pleased him: ""I am the owl,"" hewould whisper to himself after he had selected his prey, ""andnight-time is my time."" Jean Sheridan, a prominent historian, returnsto her hometown to attend the twenty-year reunion of Stonecroft Academy,where she is to be honoured along with six other members of her class.There is, however, something uneasy in the air: one woman in the group,Alison Kenall, a beautiful, high-powered Hollywood agent, died just afew days before, drowned in her pool during an early morning swim. Sheis the fifth woman in the class whose life has come to a sudden,mysterious end. At the award dinner, Jean does not suspect that amongthe distinguished people she is greeting is the ""Owl,"" a murderernearing the countdown on his mission of vengeance against the Stonecroftwomen who had mocked or humiliated him, with Jean his final intendedvictim.