Minxy Banks's dawn run by the Chesapeake Bay is upended when she finds her meddlesome neighbor stabbed to death and draped across a mermaid statue, wearing a designer suit and pantihose. Minxy's first clue: no one dresses like that in casual West Beach, MD. The murder activates the Chesapeake Crime Club which includes Minxy, a former CIA case officer; Celia, a senior CIA analyst; and Astrid, the techy wife of the Danish Ambassador to the US. They have been solving penny ante crimes like stolen garden gnomes. Now they must dig deeper, and drink more martinis, to find a killer. Minxy's unique talent-she's a Dark Empath capable of talking anyone into anything and daring enough to undertake the craziest of missions-propels the team along the twisted path of the killer and into his deadly endgame.