A sleepy small town in Connecticut is rocked to its core when the nude body of a young woman is found in the woods just outside the town. Although a number of circumstantial clues point to Spook, a Vietnam veteran with mental problems and a serious alcohol dependency, Police Chief Rocco Henry isn't convinced. There's a long list of other possible suspects and plenty of clues to follow up. Henry enlists the aid of local children's author and amateur sleuth Lyon Wentworth, who has helped solve other cases in the past. More bodies start piling up, and the suspect list widens even more: a used-car salesman, the church pastor, and a handsome Lothario all make the short list.