Paavo and Angie plan to meet Ned Paulson, Paavo's old friend, at the local café run by LaVerne Merritt, a woman who fancies herself as a gourmet cook. Ned doesn't show and Paavo's concern increases when Ned's friend, Teresa Flores, arrives and admits that she and Ned had an argument.

Angie and Paavo head for the Ghost Hollow Guest Ranch, owned by the late Hal Edwards - and the primary reason for Paavo's return to a home he left 25 years before. His old friend, Doc Griggs, called Paavo and expressed concern when Hal's body was found in a local cave. Paavo knows Doc is not given to an over-active imagination, despite his advanced age. When Doc informs Paavo that Hal had been dead for three months, Paavo wonders why no one reported him missing, and soon learns that Hal had disappeared before - for five years shortly after his divorce from Clarissa.

While at the ranch, Paavo and Angie meet Hal's ex-wife, Clarissa, and their son, Joey, who are visiting to hold the annual ranch cookout, a local tradition, and to hear the reading of Hal's will - if one is ever found. Otherwise, Joey stands to inherit the balance of Hal's wealth.

Paavo visits the local sheriff, Merry Belle Hermann and her deputy and nephew, Buster Willis, and realizes that his investigative skills are definitely needed to solve the mystery behind Hal's death. While he and Doc further investigate, Angie helps Clarissa plan the cookout menu. Angie's a gourmet cook and restaurant critic, and uses this fact to glean some information from Dolores, the cook, regarding Hal's death.

Later, Paavo, Angie and Doc are led to the cave by Joaquin, the man who discovered Hal's body, hoping to find clues to his death. Instead, they find Ned's body on the mountain top. Paavo calls the sheriff, for it's apparent that they are now dealing with multiple murders. And more murder attempts lay in store...

Joanne Pence has written a wonderful mystery, laced with humor, layered with suspense, and studded with a cast of colorful characters guaranteed to keep you turning the pages. Red Hot Murder is chock so full of suspense, humor and surprising events that it will keep you turning the pages, wanting to know what happens next. I'll definitely keep Joanne Pence on my list of favorite authors.