Beverly Pickle and his partner of forty seven years were living in peaceful retirement in the semi tropical enclave of Caballeros Estates in Palm Springs when a murder occurs and Beverly is swept up in its undertow. At once a murder mystery and a black comedy, "Family Ties " follows in the footsteps of "Tales of the City" and "Sordid Lives" as it exposes some of the more eccentric characters who live in America's desert paradise.