It is 1977, and 21-year-old amateur sleuth, Jane Newell, plans to seize life and make it her own as soon as she can get her VW Beetle out of the ditch. Having just graduated from a Midwestern college in elementary education, Jane accepted a teaching position in the small rustic town of Little Missouri, South Dakota. However, she's not the only subject of local gossip. Round the Bend Bar and Café buzzes with talk of a recent tragedy-a hit and run murder that left one of her new students without a mother and the whole community restless for answers.

Jane's nose for misadventure pulls her into a humorous tale of mystery among the zany characters surrounding her-from neighbor Merle Laird and his prize cow Snippy to the glitter-hating school janitor, Velma. Amidst the scenic wonder of this quirky little corner of western South Dakota, she begins her new life knowing that someone close to her was undoubtedly a killer, and she is determined to find out who it is.