When the publisher of the only statewide newspaper in the smallest state in the union is found dead behind his bicycle on a sunny Sunday morning, Lieutenant Donna Pacheco of the State Police is called away from lunch with her husband and three kids to head the investigation. Donna, just over five feet, is as daunting as she diminutive. But even she needs help once in a while. Especially when the possible murder involves the most powerful families in Rhode Island, the Mafia, and the newspaper unions, all of whom had good reason to want the publisher out of the way. So Donna turns to Matt Borg, her friend and editor of her hometown paper, to guide her through the social labyrinth of the state. Soon Donna and Borg are puzzling through a maze of suspects and witnesses that include the Don of the New England mob; the widow of the man once described as the richest baby in the world; the ancient and frugal Yankee farmer who drinks hot water for breakfast instead of coffee; and the secretary of the Pressman's Union, who enjoys being questioned by the attractive Donna for all the wrong reasons. When one of the suspects dies in the presses at The Bulletin's big new production plant, the family is convinced Ron Perry was murdered and this is the second homicide. Donna and Borg agree, especially after two thugs try to rough Borg up to dissuade him from talking to Perry's sexy ex-girlfriend, whose husband is a mob capo. But it isn't until Donna and Borg dig deep into the convoluted history of their state that they find the killer, still seeking vengeance for sins of the past.