When Wendall Clarke announces plans to open a new art gallery downtown, it_s both the talk of Celosia, North Carolina and the envy of its residents. But the news is upstaged when Clarke is found murdered, prompting beauty queen turned private investigator Madeline Maclin to take on the case. Faced with a laundry list of suspects including a furious ex-wife, a competing business owner, and jealous local artists, Madeline_s also struggling to keep her con man husband, Jerry Fairweather, out of handcuffs. If Jerry wasn_t enough trouble on his own, enter Honor Perkins, dead set on luring him back into a life of crime. Between foiling Perkins_ plans, stabilizing her marriage and possibly being pregnant, Madeline juggles her responsibilities as she races to solve the crime before the killer strikes again _ or her life falls apart.
