Things in Normalton, Illinois, are getting hot, hot, hot. When the small Midwest college town is chosen to host the Route 66 Rally’s Chili Challenge, not everyone’s excited by the prospect. Campus activists are upset about the environmental impact, the economic inequity, and the consumption of meat.

And when the contestants’ ingredients and equipment are peppered with sabotage, it becomes clear that there’s someone who’s willing to take a life to get their point across, and Dani must not only cook a killer batch of chili, she also has to follow a trail of clues to save the contest, her fellow competitors…

And herself.