The rehabilitation of North Dakota Place is a feel-good story - the kind St. Louis City Gazzette columnist Francesca Vierling likes to write. Grand houses restored to former glory. Pride in a neighborhood - and, like all good stories, this one has a hero, the woman who made it all happen, the city's guardian of good taste. Some call her a rehabbing saint, others a fanatic.

The first death on North Dakota place was certainly shocking but not entirely unwelcome - after all, the victim was a cranky old man who had been painting his house purple. The second death, of a drug dealer, brings tacit approval - and growing suspicion. But all bets are off when another victim is found, a socialite unceremoniously whacked with a pink lawn flamingo. Now the neighbors want Francesca to investigate. But her boyfriend wants her to commit to marriage, not crime. Soon the gutsy reporter is experiencing a deepening personal crisis - and something more heinous than vinyl siding: the dark secrets of heart, home, and blighted dreams.