The Murder on the Mall is the second book in a trilogy that features Marie Quizno, the Detective Chief of the fictional town of Big Rock, Colorado. Early one Autumn morning the Big Rock police find the body of Eddy Hickok on the lawn that borders the brick-paved mall in front of the county building. His injuries indicate that he was brutally beaten to death. Marie Quizno, Big Rock's Chief of Detectives investigates. She discovers that the victim was a pornographer who had induced Sharon, the teen age daughter of Amy and Matt Wilson, to perform in a video at the Baddyflicks studio. A man comes forward who witnessed the arson that burned down the Baddyflicks studio. Marie traces the arson to Wilson using the witness's description of three of the license numbers on his jeep. She is convinced that Wilson was the man who beat Hickok to death. Realizing that she doesn't have sufficient evidence to convict Wilson of Hickok's murder, she arranges with District Attorney Martin A. Smart to prosecute him for the lesser crime of arson that she believes she can substantiate. Wilson is tried. The jury's surprise decision is a well-received shock to the population of Big Rock.