Veteran homicide detective Blake Moyer comes out of retirement to join the police force in San Amaro, a small town on the Central California coast. On Moyer's first day on the job, George Garfield, owner of the Mollusks R Us oyster farm is murdered. A growing group of would-be environmentalists have been protesting against the oyster farm under the mistaken assumption that the activity was harmful to the ecology of the bay. The protest was begun by Sally Wicks a well-meaning, but ill-informed old time San Amaro resident. Demonstrations against the oyster farm heat up significantly when Jerry Lambert, Sally's ne'er do-well grandnephew arrives in town. Moyer aided by a young officer, Liam McNamara, assigned as his partner, sets out to discover who killed Garfield. As they get into their investigation of Garfield's murder, the detectives are faced with a series of related crimes including shoplifting, burglary, dope dealing, and political corruption before they finally learn who killed George Garfield.