After her last case in (Dead and Blonde) when lover Lindstrom and friend Patrick were both hurt, PI Meg Darcy wants nothing more than to stay at home and help nurse their wounds. But an urgent call from an old friend whose nephew has just been arrested for murder has her back on the case. Dead is the beloved school principal, called "Mom" by all her students. With prints on the gun, proving the young man's innocence is not going to be easy. Meg's sleuthing is severely challenged when her precocious eleven-year-old niece, Jen, comes for a visit. The two become a Darcy team as they comb for clues. Then, a seemingly unrelated death of one of her uncle's P.I. buddies begins to look like too much of a coincidence. As Meg closes in on the killer, Lindstrom and Patrick join her to make this an 'alternative family' undertaking.