Mira James, reporter for the Battle Lake Weekly, investigates when the 54th Milkfed Mary, Queen of the Dairy, is fatally poisoned at the Minnesota State Fair while having her likeness sculpted in butter.

When Mira James moved to a small town in Minnesota, she thought she left muggings behind her . . . until she's jumped by two men in an alley. A third man saves her, but for all his trouble he's found frozen under an ice-covered lake. Meanwhile, Mira's job as a private eye-in-training has her tracking down the family that built the Prospect House, home of the town's new museum. Discovering a letter that dates back to 1865, Mira finds herself embroiled...

Beer and polka music reign supreme at Octoberfest, Battle Lake's premier fall festival. To kick off the celebrations, the town hosts a public debate between the two congressional candidates: straight-laced Arnold Swydecker, and slippery incumbent, Sarah Glokkmann. As a reporter for the Battle Lake Recall, Mira James is roped into writing up the word war. But the festive mood sours when a well-known Glokkmann-bashing blogger is found dead . . . and...