Charlotte (Charlie) Parker is a CPA turned sleuth and partner in a private investigation agency with her brother, Ron. Sally is their receptionist and good friend. She asks Charlie to drive to her hometown of Valle Escondido, New Mexico, during the Fourth of July holidays, where they stop by and visit with Sally's best friend, Laura. They are enjoying iced tea on the patio, when Laura receives a telephone call informing her that her best friend, Cynthia, has miscarried, hemorrhaged, and died. Laura begs Charlie to investigate her friend's sudden death because she suspects Cynthia's husband had physically abused her, and Charlie agrees as a favor to Sally.

Charlie finds out that Cynthia died at a small clinic run by three doctors, the only ones in town, and that the closest hospital is thirty minutes away in Santa Fe. The doctor at the clinic reluctantly speaks to her, insists Cynthia's death was tragic but natural, and says Laura is having a hard time accepting this because she is pregnant and had previously miscarried. No one has been very helpful, and Charlie returns home without any concrete clues.

Laura calls Charlie to tell her the police chief has interviewed her and the other women who worked with Cynthia, and this is reason enough for her to ask Charlie to come back and look into the matter further. The police, for whatever reason is unclear, performed these interviews after Cynthia's husband accused her boss of murder at her funeral, even though there is still no sign of foul play.

Meanwhile, Charlie's boyfriend, Drake, arrives from Hawaii to visit and possibly ask for a bigger commitment to their relationship. She invites him to visit Valle Escondido with her to investigate. When their tires are slashed outside their bed and breakfast, Charlie is convinced someone is uncomfortable with her questions and she is on the right track. During her next visit someone breaks into her hotel room and tires to strangle her, and even the police chief becomes a suspect when he doesn't take the crime seriously.

On the plus side, Charlie has a detail-oriented outlook enabling her to research and obtain some unusual clues. Her family and friends are wholesome and likable characters who wear well. On the negative side, there is a disappointing scene in the book where Charlie's intelligence is in question after she hides in a closet and spends forty-five minutes figuring out the consequences of her actions, which were obvious from the beginning. The crime remains only a possibility and not a reality far too long, and the pace was choppy as the setting hopped from one place to another.

If you're a Charlie Parker fan, I recommend waiting for the paperback version of this book or checking it out from the library.

--Monica Pope