Lindsey Norris Sullivan must fight to keep the library open in her Connecticut town of Briar Creek on the shore of Long Island Sound. Her nemesis, Gideon Trask, is an obnoxious town councilman who wants to get rid of the library to lower taxes. So Lindsey and her staff come up with the idea of a book boat to serve the population of the nearby islands, creating more interest in the library. Lindsey’s husband, Mike “Sully” Sullivan, is just the one to help—he’s a boat captain. Needing a patron to fund the book boat, Lindsey enlists the services of her friend Robbie Vine, a famous actor. He sets up a meeting with the membership committee of The Club, an exclusive country club on nearby King’s Island, which is desperate to have him join. Dressing Lindsey in the designer clothes he buys for his girlfriend, Chief of Police Emma Plewicki, Robbie brings her to meet Mallory Masterson, Leslie Stone, Tina Baldwin, and Harper Winslow, who agree to help fund the boat. On its first run, the boat stops at Split Island, home of the Capshaws and Montgomerys, whose long-standing feud has been supercharged by the elopement of artist Ariel Montgomery’s son and Gwen Capshaw’s daughter. On a second trip, Lindsey and Sully find Gwen stabbed to death with a palette knife. Of course Ariel’s a suspect, but Lindsey doesn’t believe she did it, and when they find Club member Leslie Stone killed the same way, it looks like Ariel’s being framed. Lindsey thinks the answer lurks within The Club and, with Robbie’s help, uncovers plenty of motives.