Harley Fitch, vice-president of the Pickax Bank, and his wife, Belle, are found shot to death, and vandals from neighboring Chipmunk are suspected.

In this book, Qwilleran meets Alacoque Wright, his former love interest from The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern.

According to Publishers Weekly: …this [is a] tame, nonmysterious mystery… When Harley Fitch [is murdered, Qwilleran] doesn't discover anything, except for the spotted pasts of the deceased.

Eventually, the killer attacks Qwilleran and his identity is made known; there are no clues, no logical way for the reader to figure out whodunit.

The author's device of introducing every scene with stage directions, and her reliance on stereotypical characters, may bore ….