A joyous New Year's Eve in Historic Brooksford, Maryland, ends in tragedy when fireworks give way to murder during the tiny town's inaugural First Night celebration, and once again Rory Roberts and her cat are right at the center of it all. This time, though, Rory is more in the center than she's ever been, as she finds herself caught between her new boyfriend (who happens to be the county sheriff) and the prime suspect (who happens to be her neighbor and lifelong best friend). She may not want to choose sides, but friendship trumps romance as Rory is so sure her nice-guy best buddy could not have committed such a vicious crime. But will her loyalty leave her on the wrong side--and alone? Meanwhile, Rory's fluffy-tailed calico, Miss Cuddlywumps, is loyal only to the truth and to crime solving. A classically educated feline who is also well versed in mysteries, Miss C considers the slate of rather obvious suspects while trying to lead Rory in the right direction--hardly an easy task. As the cat sees it, she has only to follow the clues and her instincts to identify the killer, but as she soon learns, sometimes instincts can be wrong.