A pleasure cruise for mystery buffs soon becomes a playground for a devious killer in the acclaimed author's beloved series.

Mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling has planned a murder mystery cruise in the waters off her not-always-idyllic isle of Broward's Rock, South Carolina. Everything is going swimmingly—until one of the revelers plunges overboard. And despite hubby Max's courageous rescue attempt, make-believe murder turns into real-life death.

As the body count rises over the next few days, Annie begins to suspect that all the victims were murdered most foully, and that they are all connected in some unknown way. But the killer she seeks is more ingeniously efficient than most—having packed an intricate time bomb with an explosive mix of arson, assault, kidnapping, robbery . . . and homicide, naturally.