Burdeneye Parnassus, a middle schooler who fancies himself a great private detective, is making plans to solve his city’s latest mystery, a series of gruesome crimes dubbed the Flesh Box Murders. Burdeneye proposes to his father-a locally famous upholstery salesman-that they work together, just as they always have, but is rebuffed when his father determines he is too busy to help.

Without his father’s assistance, Burdeneye must face his greatest obstacle: making friends. He recruits a classmate and their cousin to make up a team in the mold of his favorite literary detectives and together, the trio uncover a secret cult which may or may not be an elaborate practical joke by the school bullies. But the closer they get to the truth about the Flesh Box Murders, the more forcefully Burdeneye must avoid the inevitable notion that the truth may be closer than he thinks…