Friends and lovers

A chance encounter between Cassidy Maxwell, a personable, serenely self-sufficient widow seeking a new life in a warmer part of the country, and a grizzled rancher who advises her to take a pasear through a unique community in the Southwest called the Valley, leads to Cassidy's buying a house there. Her new home comes with the benefit of having fascinating neighbors, including four single, highly individualistic men: two virile martial artists, a shy but likeable builder, and a handsome, debonair, talented architect. Eventually, the widow not only achieves unlooked-for happiness in an unconventional personal relationship, she also proves the means of enabling two close male friends to overcome dire problems in their own lives.A murder mystery arises that proves to have enormous consequences for several of the people for whom Cassidy has come to care deeply. The suspense mounts, as a grim shadow falls over a group of people who simply can't believe that the person arrested for the crime could have committed it. A succession of suspenseful twists and turns in this uniquely fascinating narrative leads to a dramatic, heart-wrenching climax.