Once again, Kate Fansler tries to take a break from her full time career as a literature professor and amateur sleuth. She finds refuge in a rural retreat - the last place she thought her friend Maximillian Reston would come to visit.
When he asks to be driven to the home of a recently deceased family friend Kate can't resist the opportunity to learn more about of one of her literary heroes, Cecily Hutchins. But what starts as a light-hearted trip to the coast of Maine, ends with Kate discovering a body on the rocky shore. A body of one of her students.
Kate takes it upon herself to find out what really happened. Can her own presence at the scene just be a coincidence? And how much can she really trust Max?