Mickey Raymond, an aspiring mystery writer from San Francisco, California, seeks adventure on the island of Malta as inspiration for her first novel. During her flight to the island, she meets Terry Leonard, a flirtatious young man who claims to be a chiropractor. Upon her arrival, she is taken on a harrowing ride to her hotel by an aggressive taxicab driver. The next day, while Mickey tours a museum, a Basque named Esteban Ortega murders a man for a picture postcard, which he hides in the display rack at the museum gift shop. Mickey inadvertently buys the postcard, along with several others, and walks to the marketplace, with Ortega in pursuit. She comes upon Terry, who is desperately trying to convince a vendor to buy his line of novelty jewelry. Attempting to demonstrate its commercial value, Terry forces a necklace on German tourist Eva Werner. As Mickey leaves the marketplace, Ortega steals her purse, which contains her passport and other valuables. She files a report with Police Inspector Stagnos, but he is unable to help, as she did not see Ortega’s face. Angry and frustrated, Mickey returns to her hotel and begins writing her novel, Malta Wants Me Dead, which includes an unflattering description of the inspector. She bookmarks her notes with Ortega’s postcard. As she readies for bed, Ortega breaks into her room and threatens her with a straight razor. Mickey blinds him with spray deodorant and pushes him over the balcony to his death. Later, she is questioned by Inspector Stagnos, who doubts her story, as no body has been found. When Stagnos reads Mickey’s description of him in her notebook, he warns of dire consequences if she continues to annoy him. The next morning, Mickey is befriended by fellow hotel guests Lizzy and Sean O’Reilly, an elderly Irish couple. Later, at the beach, Mickey is propositioned by Italian journalist Nino Tenucci, but she is distracted by the discovery of Ortega’s body, which a group of children find buried in the sand. She meets Inspector Stagnos at the morgue, and he identifies Ortega as the murderer of Harry Benjamin, a ship’s cook. The inspector believes they are part of a narcotics ring and accuses Mickey of being a member. When she is taken into custody, Terry Leonard poses as her attorney, and Mickey is released due to lack of evidence. Stagnos informs Mickey that some of her valuables have been recovered, but he will not return her passport while she is under suspicion. Outside the jail, Terry explains that he learned of Mickey’s arrest from a newspaper, and felt compelled to help a fellow American in need. He takes her to dinner and fabricates an elaborate story of his past achievements. When Mickey accuses him of lying, Terry admits to being a college dropout who sells jewelry for his uncle, then invites her to join him at the local casino. Nino Tenucci joins them at the roulette table and advises Mickey to bet on the numbers one, eight, and thirty-five, the date of singer Elvis Presley’s birth. She wins consistently while Terry loses. Eva Werner joins the group and flirts with Terry, offering him her telephone number. Later, Terry drives Mickey to her hotel, unaware that a car is following them. The next day, Mickey hires the aggressive taxicab driver to take her to the American embassy in hopes of recovering her passport. Upon arriving, three Arabs drag her to their limousine. They admit burying Ortega’s body, and demand to know where the killer’s “ten kilos” are hidden. When she claims ignorance, the Arabs inject her with sodium pentathol “truth serum.” The taxicab driver comes to Mickey’s rescue and rams the limousine several times until it is disabled. Mickey escapes and wanders along the road in a trance, until Terry drives past and offers her a ride. Still under the influence of the drug, Mickey reveals that she is attracted to Terry, despite his insecurity over being a failure. As Terry returns Mickey to her hotel, they encounter the O’Reillys in the lobby, to whom Mickey freely admits she was “kidnapped by Arabs.” That evening, the Arabs are killed when their yacht explodes. In the morning, during breakfast with the O’Reillys, Mickey notices a newspaper article reporting the death of the Arabs. Fearing she may be next, Mickey is determined to solve the case. She begins by investigating Harry Benjamin, and gets a ride to the waterfront from Eva, with Terry following at a distance. After inquiring in several saloons, a former shipmate of Harry’s takes Mickey to the cook’s former living quarters. There she finds an inscribed photograph of female impersonator “Princess Aida.” Later, Mickey encounters Nino, who informs her that the missing “ten kilos” are not narcotics but enough plutonium to build an atom bomb. Nino also accuses Eva and Terry of killing the Arabs. He leaves the table to use the restroom, but when he fails to return, Mickey searches for him and discovers he has been stabbed to death. She meets with Princess Aida, who reveals that he and Harry were lovers. Harry was expecting a large influx of money, but Aida is unaware of the source. He adds that Harry was illiterate, but sent his lover picture postcards from all over the world. Mickey deduces that Esteban Ortega was searching for a postcard depicting the location of the plutonium. A bullet is fired into the room, and Mickey runs from the nightclub. She trips and falls, and looks up to see Eva Werner pointing a gun at her. As Mickey begs for her life, Eva declares that she also killed Nino, her rival for the plutonium. Terry fires a shot from behind, and Eva falls to the ground. Mickey runs from the scene, believing Terry is her enemy. In the morning, Mickey encounters the O’Reillys outside her hotel, and asks Lizzy to retrieve the postcards from her notebook. Lizzy finds Terry waiting in the lobby and leads her to Mickey, who claims Terry is a murderer in search of the map on one of the postcards. The O’Reillys confiscate the postcards, hold Mickey at gunpoint, and reveal themselves to be the terrorists who destroyed the Arabs’ yacht. They tie up Mickey and Terry, place them inside a greenhouse with a ticking time bomb, and search for the plutonium. Terry explains that he is an agent of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, then frees himself and Mickey. Using Terry’s car, they pursue the O’Reillys to a ferryboat. Terry receives a minor gunshot wound from Lizzy, and Mickey takes the wheel. She fails to brake as they reach the ferry, creating a domino effect that pushes the O’Reillys into the harbor. Inspector Stagnos takes the O’Reillys into custody and congratulates Mickey and Terry on their brilliant detective work. Returning to San Francisco, Mickey writes in her notebook that she and Terry decided to part following their adventure. In reality, they are living together.