More dire doings in Pickax, "400 miles north of everywhere," where bachelor zillionaire Jim Qwilleran keeps a paternalistic eye on the town from his opulent barn house and his columnist job on Moose County Something, the local paper. Pickax has been saddened by the death of 93-year-old recluse Maude Coggin in a supposedly accidental fire in her decrepit house soon after she'd sold her hundred-acre farm, at a giveaway price, to buyers called Northern...

The people of Pickax are in a state of eager anticipation. The Pirate's Chest, the long-awaited new bookstore, is finally set to open, and the Theatre Club is preparing to perform Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. However, the play is brought to an abrupt halt as a cast member is killed in a car accident. But was it really an accident? As suspicions rise, Qwill and his sleuthing Siamese cats have their work cut out for them.