In Lawrenceton, librarian Aurora Teagarden and her best friend, newspaper reporter Sally Allison, are in the yard when a body flies out of a single engine airplane and
lands dead on the ground, only feet from them. The victim is Lawrenceton Chief of Police, Frederick Burns, who Ro saw yesterday, when he asked of the whereabouts
of Ro's boyfriend, business executive and ex-CIA Martin Bartell. He wanted to speak about some undisclosed issue which Captain Burns warns Ro, who often insinuates
herself in murder cases in town, to stay out of. Captain Burns is survived by his wife, Bess Burns, the sister of Ro's boss, Lillian Tibbett. Detective Lynn Smith, the senior
detective on the police force, is leading the murder investigation, much to the consternation of Detective Pete Lambert, who feels he is senior detective, having recently
returned from Seattle. Despite Lynn not appointing him to the case, Lambert is determined to solve the murder to make a name for himself to Mayor Sternholz, who is
appointing the next Chief. Lambert seems a little too eager to pin the murder on Martin. Against Ro's wants, the murder also becomes the topic of the day among her
real murders discussion club, as many citizens are concerned for their own safety. Regardless, Ro can't help but try to figure out the murder herself, and seek to find
out what Captain Burns wanted to speak to Martin about. Another person factoring into the unofficial investigation is Tim Prentiss, Martin's former CIA colleague.
