While on a holiday to attend an educational seminar in Hawaii, Thea Kozak is determined not only to make the conference a success but to take some time to relax from her demanding job and enjoy some sun and the beach. What she hasn't bargained for is a dead body, none other than the conference chairwoman, dressed like an expensive call girl, and strangled.

As Thea struggles to keep the conference from descending into chaos, she discovers more motives for the woman's death than positive aspects of her life—and more suspects than she can handle. Throw in some hostile local cops, the victim's suspicious husband, and an old family friend who makes Thea's difficult mother look like a saint, and a fellow snorkeler who definitely wants her dead, Thea's hopes for rest and quiet are dashed. But with some help from her own team—an observant little girl named Laura, a too-observant pathologist, and her dear friend Jonetta, Thea may come out of this alive. "Deft characterization, wonderfully original humor, and the in-your-face charm and chutzpah of heroine Thea Kozak. The book is terrific." Booklist