Following Sheriff Tupper's retirement, his replacement quickly has to adjust to small town life in Cabot Cove when a fairly new resident, Mr. Penroy, is found dead and buried in the yard of the spinster sisters he was renting a room from. Irked by the fact that everyone suggests that he turn to Jessica for help in discovering how he died, Sheriff Metzger tries to convince the town that he'd be able to do the job on his own. However, things don't go as planned when a second body is found in the same fashion as Mr. Penroy and Sheriff Metzger reluctantly has to turn to Jessica for help.