Welcome to the world of Nora Blackbird, not-so-wealthy Philadelphia socialite with a two million dollar problem on her hands. Left with the property tax after her fun-loving ditzy parents “blew the country for a sunny resort that catered to American tax evaders”, Nora has no choice but to face the most evil of all evils: paid work. Despite the protests of her sisters, Emma and Libby (who were respectively bequeathed the family art collection and some priceless antique furniture, neither of which came with any sort of tax debt), Nora sells off a small part of the family land to keep the IRS happy, and proceeds to acquire a job as an assistant society page columnist for a local Philadelphia newspaper, which is owned by an old friend of the family. But instead of picking up, things only begin to get worse. First off, the land she sold, five acres of precious heritage Blackbird land, has been concreted over and turned into – horror of horrors – a car sales lot. The new owner, Michael “the Mick” Abruzzo (who’s suspicious connections are best not investigated) claims to have “done the right thing” by creating new jobs in the local community, and would Nora consider going up to New York with him for a steak dinner? Nora is not impressed.
Then she discovers that Kitty Keough, her new boss, hates her guts and is determined to make her pay. This is not light threat – Kitty is a woman with a mission and has the power of the pen behind her all the way.
Finally – and this is the straw that broke the camel’s back – Nora’s old friend, newspaper owner Rory Prendergast, is found dead on his bed in the middle of a party in his own home.
Nora doesn’t mean to get involved – really she doesn’t – but when the police begin to suspect dear, sweet Peach Treese, Rory’s companion for many years, she knows that she has to discover the truth. With the somewhat unexpected but extremely useful help of Michael Abruzzo (who does amazing things to a pair of worn denim jeans), Nora begins the hunt for Rory’s murderer, hindered by her ditzy sister Libby, who first causes innumerable problems, and then simply…disappears. When Emma also vanishes, Nora knows that something is definitely not right, and that her time is running short…