ON A HOT AUGUST AFTERNOON a picnic is being held to celebrate the election of Andy Boychuk as leader of Saskatchewan's Official Opposition. All of the key people in Boychuk's life-family, friends, enemies-have gathered. About to begin his speech, Boychuk takes a sip of water from a glass on the lectern. Within seconds he is dead.

Joanne Kilbourn, Boychuk's speechwriter, is stunned, but she is no stranger to sudden death-her own husband was brutally murdered several years before. While trying to help Boychuk's widow through the trauma, Joanne delves into his past, and unexpectedly enters a world of concealed passions and sexual intrigue. When someone tries to stop her, Joanne, an almost typical middle-aged woman, sets off to solve the case-her first on the way to becoming Canada's pre-eminent reluctant sleuth.