Is it against the law to kill somebody who is, technically, already dead?

Because Sylvie Pace wants to dig up dear old (late) Dad and throttle him personally. It was his fault Sylvie got stuck in a business (thank heavens, not personal) relationship with The Abominable Cowboy.

Before Daddy kicked the bucket—by blowing up with his yacht—he had spent his life the way a father should: making lots of money and spending it on his only daughter.

With Harry dead, Sylvie thinks her life is ruined. One week Sylvie has a penthouse apartment , a red Ferrari, and friends in the Palm Beach Polo Club set. The next week she has a raggedy ranch in Nowhereville—of which she can claim only half.

The other half belongs to the Abominable Cowboy.

Abominable, whose real name is Walter McGurk, had a mysterious history with Harry Pace. The ranch seems to be the only asset of Harry's which had not been mismanaged, leveraged, lost, or stolen—probably because it was hidden so far back in the Florida swamps that everyone forgot about it.

She's Palm Beach, he's Podunk Holler.

She's haute couture, he's old jeans, sweaty tee-shirts, and stinky boots.

She's Italian sports cars, he's American-made pickup trucks.

She doesn't know if her father was murdered, or whether she and the Cowboy will kill each other, but Sylvie Pace knows she's living the Cinderella story in reverse.