Kerplunk, a.k.a. Steve Kirby, played a drunken tramp clown character on TV so no one realized, at first, that he was actually dying when he staggered and collapsed, bleeding, in front of a large group of delighted day-camp children during Woodendale's annual Fourth of July Parade. Detective Hudson R. Putnam is retired LAPD, now living in northwestern U.S. and operating his own agency. Claire Stone is his dead partners' daughter. Hud is teaching Claire the ropes of investigation and breaks her in on his new case: the dead clown. Follow Hud and Claire through the twists and turns of a quick-read murder as they crack their first serious case together.