Savannah Stone is a puzzle writer who is called to a meeting by her editor and syndicator, Derrick Duncan. When she gets to Raleigh, she finds out that she isn't the only person who has been called to meet with Derrick. It turns out that several writers and columnists have been called to meet with him, and it looks like everyone is being summarily fired. And, due to the non-compete clauses in the contract, everyone is (understandably) shaken up and extremely upset. Savannah's meeting, though, goes particularly bad and she ends up slapping him. After leaving the meeting, she thinks things through and returns to apologize to him. But she finds only his dead body, and Derrick's assistant returns shortly thereafter, which makes Savannah look pretty guilty.

Fortunately, Savannah's best friend Jenny is an attorney in Raleigh, and she calls on her for assistance while she's being questioned. Zach, Savannah's husband, is a former chief of police, but he's in another state testifying on a case as a consultant. However, as soon as he hears about her plight, he's there informally offering assistance to the police. Soon, Jenny and Zach are trying to prove Savannah's innocence without actively interfering with the police investigation. Since Derrick had an abrasive personality and had just fired a slew of people, there are plenty of people with motive to have killed him, but of course none of those people were seen hovering over the dead body.

To add to the stress of trying to save Savannah, Jenny also has a stalker. While Jenny doesn't want to involve her friends in her personal drama, Savannah strongly feels that Zach can help with this, and she lets him know what's going on. Zach begins juggling his wife's investigation with trying to figure out who is harassing Jenny, and the suspect field narrows -- including the police officer investigating Savannah's case (who is an ex-boyfriend of Jenny's).

This was a really great mystery. There were plenty of suspects to go around for the primary mystery, and I was kept guessing throughout. The relationship between Savannah and Zach is balanced well, and the friendship between Jenny and Savannah is easy and comfortable. It is believable that they have been friends since undergrad and have seen each other through thick and thin. The only quibble I have is that I immediately knew who Jenny's stalker was -- I thought this was extremely obvious and I was proven right in the end.

Overall, this was a great book, and I will definitely be tracking down the first book in the series, and I will absolutely keep an eye out for future books in the series.