Maggody, Arkansas (pop. 755) is perceived as a two-bit hick town, filled with one-bit hicks. But the mayor’s wife, Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon, seeks to change that perception with her latest scheme: a charity golf tournament! Which presents a bit of a challenge, since no one in Maggody plays golf and there is no course. But when the prize for the first hole-in-one is announced—a top-of-the-line bass boat—suddenly Maggody goes golf crazy…with limited success and maximum domestic disorder.

Besides the townspeople, there are several outside figures who actually know how to play the game. Among them: The low-level PGA player Bonaparte Buchanon and Tommy Ridner, an instructor from a nearby country club. As for Sheriff Arly Hanks? She has more important things to worry about on, and off, the job—and just wishes all this golf business would go away.

When Tommy Ridner beats the odds and sinks the first hole-in-one, it looks like what’s done is done...until he’s found in his bass boat—dead. Now Arly Hanks is facing a complicated murder investigation for which darned near everyone in town is a suspect.