The folks on the Broward's Rock library board want to declare their independence from new member, retired Brigadier General Charlton Bud Hatch. A man accustomed to being in charge, Hatch has commandeered the Fourth of July Festival, a benefit for the library, and has maneuvered it away from its original theme, a history of South Carolina women, transforming it into his own testosterone-laden vision, Points of Patriotism. Hatch's takeover attitude has alienated every woman in town, including good-natured Annie. But she finds it difficult to ignore him during the crowded patriotic festival -- especially wahen he's shot dead before her eyes. With a list of likely suspects that could fill Town Hall, Annie and Max are stunned when the police arrest an innocent young man who recently quarreled with the malevolent martinet. In the spirit of '76, the determined Darlings take up the suspect's cause and forge a campaign to identify the party that dispatched Hatch.