Recovering from last year's Las Vegas trip-from-hell, Long Beach literary agent Charlie Greene is looking forward to spending this year's vacation at home. No manuscript reading, no needy clients, no killer commute for a whole week—just some good, old-fashioned rest and relaxation.

But before Charlie's peaceful vacation even starts, her daughter's rambunctious cat, Tuxedo, causes her to stumble across the body of neighbor Jeremy Fielder, murdered in the front seat of his truck. And investigating officers are quick to remind Charlie that this isn't her first dead body.

Now their quiet Southern California suburban community is becoming more hectic than rush hour on the L.A. freeway as Charlie and her zany neighbors face-off against nosy police officers, insatiable reporters, and a killer determined to drive them away.