Fred didn't show for the fiesta lunch special on Wednesday at the Arbor Vale Café. Why not? He'd called to say he had something to tell her. So Zita Stillman drops by his house to hear him out. Fred had been such a good friend to her late husband. But Fred lies, lifeless, by the wood pile.So begins Zita's first murder investigation with her lifelong sidekick Zinnia Blossom Winwood and the distraction of the good-looking Max Knight, successful condo builder. Attacked by a clown, run off the road, and warned off by the police, Zita will not let Fred's murderer get off scot-free. But another mystery, the facts surrounding Zita's parentage and birth also may come to light.