For the inhabitants of Crozet, Virginia, the premier place for gossip is the post office, where along with the mail one can pick up the juiciest tidbits this cozy Southern town has to offer. Lately, though, there seems little to dish about in Crozet, except for the computer virus threatening to hit businesses on August 1, and the stale romantic triangle of a young bank executive, his new wife, and his unforgiving ex-girlfriend.

Even the animals, usually so transfixed by the goings-on of the humans, are wishing for a little action.

But suddenly everyone is shaken out of the sweltering summer lethargy by the noisy arrival of a leather-clad Hell's Angel at one of Crozet's most famous historic homes, Ash Lawn. Harry, who is in the midst of giving her handsome neighbor Blair Bainbridge a tour of the onetime home of President and Mrs. Monroe, finds herself a witness to the disturbing scene as the belligerent biker tries to barge in, desperate to find a mysterious woman with the very un-Virginia name of Malibu.

Crozet residents have barely stopped chattering about who this Malibu might be when the biker is found murdered.