Although the citizens of Berkeley are famously tolerant, that progressive attitude disappears at the property line between the homes of Dr. Hasbrouck Diamond and Leila Sandoval. In the Berkeley hills , there are no worse neighbors than Diamond and Sandoval. What began as a tiff about garbage cans and street parking has exploded into full-blown war, drawing in the city, the press, and now—to the irritation of detective Jill Smith—the police department. Struck by a falling eucalyptus branch while sunning on his deck, Dr. Diamond accuses his neighbor of assault with a deadly tree. As a heat wave causes tempers to flare even higher, Jill does her best to referee the back-and-forth. But when their feud ends in death, she realizes that the community might only be safe with the neighbors behind bars.