One of Maine kennel owner Jack Field's favorite pastimes is spending quality time with a fun-loving pooch -- which is why he's playing fetch with a corgi named Tipper instead of mingling at a July 4th shindig. But when Tipper returns with a bloodstained boating cap in her teeth, the ex-New York cop decides to investigate ... and finds an anonymous dead man clutching Tipper's tennis ball.

The local law thinks Jack's the killer, since he had the opportunity and, as it turns out, a motive. Even his loyal and lovely fiancée, assistant state medical examiner Dr. Jamie Cutter, is troubled by evidence that seems to contradict Jack's tale. Someone's trying awfully hard to frame the dog-savvy ex-detective, and he's determined to find out why -- even though everyone, from a billionaire inventor to a San Diego drug lord to a whole passel of professional killers, is equally determined to stop him and his doggie pals dead in their tracks.