Nobody likes Mrs. Pyrce. Meddling, miserable and small-minded, she is the Scrooge of the Bath Square where she lives. Her neighbors are weary of her constant allegations - the latest being that someone is stealing her plants. When Joanna McKenzie, ex-policewoman turned private detective, is called to investigate the horticultural happenings, she finds she doesn't care for Mrs. Pyrce either - but a minor source of unpleasantness turns major when Mrs. Pyrce is battered to death and all leads point to Joanna. If this was not challenging enough, she is forced to work alongside her former colleague and old flame, Chief Inspector James Carrick. The heat begins to build on all fronts when a young redheaded nurse, mistaken for Joanna, winds up murdered, and the eccentric characters living in Bath Square begin to show their true colors. Joanna and James must put their feelings on hold and unite to catch the killer before their time runs out in Margaret Duffy's sparkling introduction to a new pair of sleuths.