The Santa Narcissa Zoo is under duress: dwindling staff, budget cuts, panda preparations, accreditation inspections, a vengeful graphic designer—and a deceased docent. Claude Hopper had it all: looks, money, a storied career as the creator of wonder drug Povenda, and, after he turns up dead under strange circumstances, a legacy that would haunt the Zoo. Who would have reason to kill him? The spurning girlfriend who doesn’t believe in marriage? An animal keeper with a grudge? The estranged son with whom he recently reconnected? An ardent animal rights activist? Or the philandering City Councilman who loves him? It’s up to disillusioned primatologist, behavioral researcher, and former private investigator turned horticulturist Sandy Lohm to unravel the red tape in order to find the killer.