Nothing bad ever happens in Ponderosa Pines... That's what anonymous gossip columnist Chloe LaRue and her best friend, town matriarch EV Torrence, thought. But then Luther Plunkett-a second-rate handyman with a first-rate ego-raises a stink over building regulations and then promptly turns up dead. Small-town mysteries have a way of snowballing out of control, especially since EV was seen arguing with the now-deceased at a public function. Before the body gets cold, EV becomes suspect #1 in the murder, and not even Chloe can stop the rumor mill from churning. Not since the infamous squabble over whether to name the town Ponderosa Valley or Whispering Pines have the residents of Ponderosa Pines been so divided. Against Detective Nate Harper and Deputy Dalton Burnsoll's orders, Chloe and EV mount their own investigation-but what they uncover might just rock the community to its very core. How far will Chloe and EV go to track down a killer?