Columbine Pepper Drugget's background wasn't one that equipped a young woman to manage a motel worth a million dollars, or cope with rude guests, jewel thieves, an unscrupulous competitor - or even the attentions of a brassy but oddly attractive lawyer. She had spent her life so far as an assistant to her aunt at Miss Cordwainer’s School for Girls from 5-to-10. What she knew about the world was limited to the novels of Jane Austen and such bits of knowledge as the pupils possessed. None of this prepared her to assume the proprietorship of a luxury motor court in Phoenix, Arizona, left to her by her estranged father - or, indeed, for what ensued when she set off alone to claim it.

Her adventures began on the train, where she met a strange trio of passengers who, unbeknownst to Miss Drugget, would soon become more intimately involved in her life. They included a suspicious-looking clergyman known only as Martinus, Professor Artemus Thumb (who was a fanatic about his thesis, “The Place of Primitive Magic in the Development of Pastoral Peoples”), and Mrs. Roxy Thistlebun, a rich Texas oil widow. As it happens, that was also the night one of her suitcases became switched with one containing thousands of dollars in stolen jewels.

Miss Drugget’s life became even more complicated when she arrived in Phoenix to assume her new duties as the owner-operator of The Grove of Daphne Motor Court. In addition to discovering the jewels - and a very businesslike gun - in her suitcase, she needed to discover which of her employees was stealing the motel blind. She also needed to head off an attempt by a local real estate magnate, Lucius Quentin, to acquire ownership of her motel. What perturbed Miss Drugget most, however, was that somehow she seemed to have become a magnet for murder...

Here is a true-to-form, zany Kelland tale featuring a strong and brilliant heroine, fast-paced adventure, humor and homicide - and even a touch of romance.