Manny Shepherd's plans to fish the Mississippi River hit a snag the minute he unwinds from Steve Mallinotti's Mustang convertible and sets a boot in the mud at Neelys Landing, Missouri. The immediate problem isn't the black SUV that's been following them, which Steve suspects is the gangbanger who wants him dead, but the fact Steve's great Aunt Flossie just found a neighbor, Joe Rayburn, dead on his bed with a rope around his neck. She implores Manny to find her friend's killer since the sheriff asserts Joe was just another old drunk close to dying anyway. Manny discovers similar recent murders of elderly people in this southeastern area of Missouri whose homes are mysteriously burned down after the deaths. He also finds a few folks with reason to want Rayburn dead. As he sorts through likely suspects, the private investigator is distracted by Flossie's homemade cures and the come-ons of the sheriff's daughter, a voluptuous teen. A gangbanger goes after Steve's great aunt Flossie, as Steve is caught off guard by a Buffalo rifle, and Manny untwists a murderous plot.