Moony Packard, long-serving postman in Blackwater Bay, is found murdered on his round. His brother Frank, a noted local eccentric, automatically decides he has been the victim of an establishment conspiracy. Sheriff Matt Gabriel and his colleagues suspect his death has more to do with the fight he had the evening before with Frog Bartlett - the ugliest man in Blackwater Bay - especially when the murder weapon is found in Bartlett's garage. But Matt knows all too well that murder investigations are never solved so simply, especially when it's election time. Under pressure from his supporters to get going on his own campaign, Matt ignores them to concentrate on the case and in so doing finds himself under suspicion for another killing.

Sharply plotted, with a delicious array of quirky characters, this is a whodunnit of suspense, wit and high entertainment.