Anxious to get away from a rocky past and into a climate where his trauma-induced asthma isn't a daily challenge, Dale Kinsall, DVM, arrives at his new position in the high desert to an eccentric staff, and a community abuzz about a recent murder. The buzz gets even louder when Dale and his young Beagle stumble across a second victim: a man drowned in his own drought-dusty backyard. Before much longer it becomes evident that Dale, Sully, and the clinic are all at risk, and Dale's fledgling relationship with a local colleague turns serious in more ways than one as trouble closes in on them all . . .