"While vacationing in England, Uncle January and his third wife, Billie-B, are killed by a London van. Their ashes are brought home to Colorado by Billie-B's devoted daughter Claris, for burial on a family ranch. But when Claris arrives bearing not two but three little white boxes- the third, she says, hold the remains of a distant cousin- Uncle January's own kinfolk are politely dumbfounded. After all, they hadn't even known the poor old fellow. When they discover the next day that someone has dug up and scattered the contents of two of the boxes, they are shocked and scared. The curious discovery of yet a fourth box of ashes lures Cousin Shirley McClintock- rancher and former adviser to Washington mucketymucks- into a serious investigation of the mysterious family. And what she finds is a good deal more deadly that even her grieving relatives had bargained for ..." -- (p.4) of cover.