"From these ashes would spring the phoenix, not of love, but of murder; of hatred, vengeance and the lust to kill! What had he not loosed upon the world!"

One afternoon in downtown New York, Norman Storm sees his beautiful wife Leila emerging from an office building, a random encounter that will turn his life around. Later, he asks her about it, and she denies having been there, claiming instead to have gone to lunch with a friend. And thirty-six hours later, he beats her to death with a golf club.

Ashes to Ashes is an inverted mystery, following the mind of sociopath Norman Storm as he suspects his wife of infidelity, impulsively kills her, then concocts a plan to cover up what he believes is the perfect murder. In the ensuing turn of events, Storm finds that his greatest danger comes, not from the police, but from his well-meaning friends.