Aimless and drifting, Julie Haynes opens a "Reader-Advisor" shop on a dare. Instead of a mere lark, Julie discovers true compassion and concern for her 'congregation'-actors, shop-keepers, impoverished residents of the Willoughby Hotel, the angry poor of the tenements, various street characters including Sweets Romano, Golde the pimp, and a young prostitute. But when a man is found murdered in the girl's room, Julie is plunged into the investigation.