It's Arts Festival time in Clay Bay and Suzy is very excited about meeting one of her favorite authors, Dianne Harman, who's in town to participate in a couple of events. With her mother babysitting her daughter, Max, Suzy is looking forward to some rare time to herself out of the house. But when Dianne's publisher dies in her sleep, all bets for an enjoyable time are off when it's discovered that the woman was murdered. With a list of suspects that includes the author and her agent, the publisher's personal assistant, the publishing house's lead counsel and another writer who is signed by the dead publisher's company, Suzy is immediately drawn into the situation and soon forced to defend her new friend's reputation.Making the case more difficult is the fact that the author and the publisher had switched hotel rooms earlier in the day of the murder, and the initial step is figuring out who the intended victim actually was. Working with the local, state and federal cops, Suzy is initially at a loss, but the smoke begins to clear when someone tries to run Dianne over in the middle of the street. The author's life is saved by her dog, who in the process, gets hit by the car. Josie is forced to perform emergency surgery while Suzy and the cops try to piece together a complex puzzle that involves a lot of crazy behavior mingled with some very unclear motives. And before the last piece of the puzzle finally falls into place, Suzy finds herself in some hair-raising adventures as only she can.