Here I sit at a police station being accused of murder! Will wonders never cease? How could I have decapitated Gerry Delaney when he was a big, barrel-chested man and I'm a slim woman, barely registering five-feet six? That's something the cop interrogating me can't or won't answer. Besides, why would I kill Gerry? I was trying to get him to buy tequila mixers for his dive bar. He hadn't made up his mind yet and killing him wasn't going to help. I'm Hetty Carson, private investigator. Business was slow, so I started selling tequila mixers on the side in downtown L.A. Who knew it could lead to murder? I mean, Gerry's murder was a tragedy, for sure, but I figured it didn't have anything to do with me. Until someone figured it did, and now I have to investigate why if I want to stay alive.

Lana Davis arrives in New Mexico from Los Angeles, planning to look up a former boyfriend and take in some sightseeing. But this all-expense-paid trip is not a vacation. She's here to find Antonio Chavez, last seen in Santa Fe. He's the missing beneficiary of a large life insurance policy her company issued. The heat is on because a disgruntled heir insists he should receive the proceeds instead. However bogus his claim is, the public relations nightmare he causes for her company is real. If Lana doesn't find Antonio, her job is on the line. Lana's search for Antonio brings her into the inner circle of a powerful art gallery in Santa Fe, owned by the daughter of a wealthy family. Although Lana's knowledge of art is limited to the one art history class she took in college, she soon discovers that when art and greed collide, the result is deadly. Her knack for finding dead bodies makes the police nervous—and finding herself a target for murder is more than she signed up for.