Virginia Davies, curator at the Southbrook Museum, is leaving on vacation to the romantic seaside town of Pelican Cove with her boyfriend, Dr. Andy Clark, when her boss innocently asks her to make it a well paid, working vacation. The old director was murdered trying to mount an exhibit about a ship that sunk off the coast years before, touching a nerve in someone bent on keeping a secret that went down with the ship. Virginia stumbles upon the secret and deeper intrigue involving smuggling, drugs, deceit and murder by local, prominent citizens. She leads her friends, US Marshals, the Coast Guard and the murderers on a wild adventure to the cutting conclusion.