Environmental activist Jeffrey Marx is a member of the Raritan-Delaware Watershed Commission, which was designed to control development in northwest New Jersey, but through a quirk of politics, can only charge fees on projects it approves. Despite his best efforts, Marx has been unable to block a single project in his years on the Commission.
When Marx collapses at a Commission meeting, the rescuers discover he was wearing a wire and the Commission members panic. Det. Arnold launches a murder investigation when tests show the organic milk Marx used for his fair trade coffee had been laced with all-natural poison. Arnold quickly finds Marx’s recorded conversations, which reveal Marx’s, and others, most important “green” was cold cash.
As the summer heats up, Arnold tries to navigate the twists and turns of both a corruption and murder investigation. His relationship with his girlfriend, attorney, French cook extraordinaire, and die-hard Yankee fan Melinda Devereaux, is also heating up. What will be more of a challenge, Arnold rounding up dozens of corrupt developers and politicians, plus nabbing a murderer, or New York City native Melinda adjusting to Arnold’s farm-raised family?
