Former CIA operative Phoenix Smith goes with Acting Sheriff Annalynn Keyser to search for a missing farmer. They find him dead with a rifle at his side and a broken antler in his back. The women suspect a human framed a deer. Phoenix hunts for the deadly deer as an excuse to investigate the widow, a hostile neighbor, an ecoterrorist, and other suspects. She gains their confidence and picks their locks. She also protects the most vulnerable from both the killer and the law. Rule-bound Annalynn leads the official investigation, stretching the law and her ethics to convert Phoenix's illegally obtained leads into court-admissible evidence. As in Show Me the Murder, the friends rely on trust, love, and laughter to survive crimes and crises.