Somewhat north of the metropolis of Manhattan lies the quiet little town of Verplanck, New York. Nothing exciting really happens there except perhaps the annual knife-throwing contest. That isn't to say that life in Verplanck is boring. For, one thing the automobile of choice is the Yugo. For another, there seems to be more landscapers than land. But the strangest of all, no one in this small town seems to blink when one of its best known and possibly least liked residents, Mona Dearly drives her Yugo into the Hudson to her death. All in all Mona's death could be described as a pretty fortuitous accident for everyone whose lives she touched, or in some cases, hit. Except for the fact that it wasn't an accident. Somebody in Verplanck wanted Mona dead. Bound by duty to investigate the crime, Police Chief Wyatt Rash soon discovers that he's not going to get a lot of help from the people who knew her. It's not that her family and friends are insensitive. It's just that Mona wasn't one of Verplanck's favorite citizens. The Palace diner's career waitress Rona didn't have a problem seducing both Mona's husband Phil and son Jeff away from her. She made life miserable for Jeff's business partner Bobby Calzone and Bobby's fiancee Ellen. Even Rash's deputy Feege seemed intimidated by the woman. The biggest problem in Chief Rash's investigation is when he asked himself "Who would like to see Mona Dearly dead?" The answer keeps coming back, who wouldn't.