Too bad dead pigeons are just the beginning... — Margaret Welch is in her idea of heaven. She has what many people only dream of--a successful bookstore in a charming old house. Even better, she and her bookstore are located in Stonewall, a picturesque town nestled in the foothills of Tennessee's Blue Ridge Mountains. Unfortunately, Margaret also has a sister--Bitsy.

The morning Bitsy flings a dead pigeon on her sales counter, Margaret decides that "never assume anything as far as Bitsy is concerned" is a sound policy.

Next on the scene is the mysterious stranger Cousin Leona brings home. Quickly following are the Dumpster incident, the renegade goats, the exploding goldfish pond...

And then events take a more deadly turn, and nobody, especially perennially depressed Officer Buckles, seems able to stop the escalating violence.

When Bitsy takes matters into her own overwrought hands and the police dismiss an attempt on Margaret's life, Margaret realizes she'll have to pull her nose out of her bookstore and solve the mysterious crimes herself.