After leaving her job at a Boston law firm, Susan Callisto is loving life as a political consultant for people seeking low-level office. So when her boyfriend, Detective Lieutenant Michael Benedict, dumps her without notice, she throws herself into her work. Susan's initially suspicious when Charles Renfrow, the head of a biotech company working with the human genome, approaches her to help with his campaign for mayor of a small Massachusetts town, but she reluctantly agrees. As rumors about the company dumping waste swirl and Renfrow's assistant is found dead, Susan begins to wonder just what she signed up for. Michael is assigned to the case, and they team up to discover the truth as the bodies being to pile up.