In River City, Indiana, local cake baker Charly Angell thinks she has her hands full dealing with the new dynamic of her long marriage to a husband turned rocker wannabe, her teenage son's bedroom, which resembles the local dump, and the absence of her sweet daughter, newly installed at an out-of-town university. But those things pale when there's a murder in town and Charly's son becomes a person of interest in the case. She and new friend Violet Shades, aka "Boots," a divorcee, freelance advertising agent, and California transplant, join forces to investigate the crime. As they eat cake, drink wine, and fumble their way through the investigation, the two women uncover shocking secrets and lies in the city that's home to Addicted to the Arts Co-op. While they try to absolve Charly's son of any involvement in the murder, another murder, related to the first one, occurs, escalating their sleuthing to new and more dangerous heights.