George, an aging sheriff in a small Midwestern village, has a lot on his mind: the mayor has shown him a rather crudely note with a very threatening theme. The note implies that the people who the mayor loves are going to be killed first, then the mayor herself will be murdered. George shows the note to his brother, Peter while they are fishing in Minnesota. Peter, a gifted high school literature instructor, has his own problems: his fourteen year old daughter Deborah, has been acting very strange as of late. George meets with the mayor just before her father is brutally murdered in his bed. Now George is in a race to prevent the murders of others who are close to the mayor. He still finds time to pay attention to his niece Deborah, his brother's daughter, who is going through a crisis of her own. George is puzzled by the bizarre details of the murder, as evidence points to a mentally ill young man who lives in town. Deborah and her father, Peter, become involved in trying to help George, as the mayor becomes more frantic. The story is both dark and humorous, as the author explores family relationships, mental illness, murder, tragedy and triumph. The quotations which head each chapter are woven into the story, as Shakespeare, Dickens, Agatha Christie and other writers' ideas become an integral part of the plot and its resolution.