Carrie McClelland has spent two peaceful, if at times boring, years as a general assignment reporter for a newspaper in Santa Rosa, California. When she's asked to take over the crime beat for a vacationing colleague, she looks forward to a little excitement. Carrie gets more than she bargained for, however, and soon she's in deep doo-doo. Her career may be heating up, but her life is in danger.

As the temporary crime reporter, Carrie quickly finds herself harassed by a robber who resents being accused of murder, and she's facing ethical conflicts concerning her homicide detective boyfriend.

Not only are the crime stories making life more exciting, but then her general assignment story about an animal rights group's crusade against foie gras creates chaos in the city. On the home front, her neighbor's vicious pit bulls bust into her yard and menace her west highland white terrier. The neighbor threatens her life, so should she call animal control?

Carrie's tossed into a world of gangsters, grifters, guns, and geese as she investigates another apparent robbery death while coping with her nasty neighbor, law enforcement, office politics, and a fugitive gardener.

It's trial by fire for her journalistic career and one hell of a week for Carrie.