New York mystery editor Claire Rawlings spends her days scrutinizing the motives and methods of fictitious criminals—but her precocious 13 year-old friend Meredith Lawrence has a keen eye for the cold, hard facts of crime. So when Meredith comes to visit, the two mystery buffs put their heads together to sleuth out the truth about a real-life murder. Claire's star author, the ferociously flirtatious Blanche Dubois, is found dead after eating a poisoned apple and there's no shortage of suspects. Many were jealous of her success, and many put off by her haughty, demanding demeanor. With the help of a detective, Claire and Meredith question Blanche's friends, colleagues, and relatives—and discover that even in the Big Apple, the world of murder is a very small world indeed.

Still reeling from the shocking demise of an ill-fated romance, Claire jumps at the chance to teach a writing seminar at an artist colony in Woodstock. She thinks it will be the perfect opportunity to rest, relax, and recover—but instead of happy-go-lucky hippies, the writers in residence are argumentative overachievers. Claire's getting some really bad vibes from this group. And things only get worse when she finds the colony's resident beauty—an exotic journalist known as Dorian Gray—dead in the bathtub. Luckily, Meredith has arrived and is eager to start investigating—but soon Claire senses that her snooping sidekick's inquiries have put them both in serious danger...

Editor and sleuth Claire Rawlings and her 12-year-old sidekick Meredith visit a cozy New England inn where murder is an unwanted guest.