Paul Kiefer enjoyed a promising career at New Mexico University-until a murderer canceled the arrogant young man's plan to fast track to full professor. Shocked at the sight of her colleague's dead body, department head Eleanor Jarviss turns for comfort and aid to her daughter Bethany. The Jarviss Foundation's grants manager, Bethany has an amateur detective's knack for crime solving. When she awards a Foundation Scholarship to a student who dishes the dirt on the dead prof, Bethany gets drawn into the murder investigation. With Eleanor's help, she compiles a list of suspects close to Kiefer stunned but not saddened by the scheming academician's demise.