It's almost Easter in Shady Corners, and Aurora "Rory" Aspen is dying to improve her business's reputation.

With two of the parties she's thrown for folks in town marred by murders, Rory is worried that Aspen Events may be developing a reputation for bad luck. Desperate for some good PR, she sets up the Run or Dye 5K to raise money for the local animal shelter and increase goodwill toward her business. But when the animal shelter's landlord is shot with shrapnel instead of purple dye, Rory is once again watching her reputation go south in a handbasket.

On top of all that, Rory's mother's back in town, and she insists Rory needs to be training to protect herself from a strange, invisible wizardly threat.

Can Rory solve the murder while managing two sassy familiars and a hidden wizard with murderous intentions? Or should she just hang up the dye and all the rest of her party supplies and get a new job?