Jonas McCleary is slight, he can't shoot straight and he isn't really ambitious. His main asset is that he's good at written tests.

Sleepy Sand Bluff, California is a poor community that could really use another police officer but doesn't even have the money to buy uniforms. 

Chief Raymond Castillo gets an idea: hire a detective. No uniform to worry about. 

Jonas seizes upon this opportunity to get an easy job in a quiet little town and easily passes the test. What cinches the job for him is that in his interview with the chief, he state's that he prefers to drive his old pickup truck to an official Crown Vic.

To put whipped cream on his new job, Jonas believes he may have found his Miss Right. 

But on his third day, Jonas is hit with a homicide. He hadn't signed on for that kind of stuff. Before he can even start a real investigation, Twyla Peters, town hussy, is found in a pool of blood, and the killing isn't over.

Jonas is going to have to find his way along a dark and winding path, a path filled with mystery and danger if he hopes to find a conclusion to Sand Bluff's problems and see justice done.