Laura Fleming knows that love plays by its own rules. After all, she did the unthinkable and married a Yankee. But even she's shocked to hear that her indomitable Aunt Maggie, a spinster closer to eighty than seventy, has eloped with Big Bill Walters. Laura, her husband Richard, and their baby daughter hightail it home, where Laura discovers the real motive behind Aunt Maggie's marriage. Someone is trying to kill Big Bill, and Aunt Maggie plans to stick close enough to find the culprit-with Laura's help. Big Bill is Byerly's wealthiest businessman, so it's little surprise certain folks have a beef with him. In fact, there's a stack of threatening letters going back decades to wade through. Claims of land theft and worker injury abound, plus Aunt Maggie's one-time beau, Pudd'nhead Wilson, is back in town. Innocents are getting caught in the crossfire, and Laura concocts a risky plan to lure the killer into the open. But she'll need to keep Aunt Maggie safe too, or Byerly's oldest newlywed will soon be its newest widow...