At just twenty-nine years old, Allison seemed to have it all, as a successful investigative reporter. However, a mysterious event leaves her broke - and broken - and she is forced to leave the city and return to the town where she grew up - the seaside village of Curtain Bay. It's been twelve years since she was last there, and nothing has changed - least of all the annual Cheesecake Competition. The town's residents take it as seriously as ever, and this year Allison is the star judge. When Allison crowns an unpopular winner, Cassandra, who then turns up dead the next day, anyone could be to blame. Did one of the runners up kill Cassandra so that they could take her crown? Could Allison be partly to blame? She decides to investigate, as she still has the reporter spirit inside her. Her search for the guilty party brings her closer to her old high school boyfriend Robert, who seems to be hiding something, and Allison is forced to face up to more than one secret from her past.