When sous chef Cassie Doolin arrives at the Embassy of St. Denis in Washington, she is prepared for a hectic night of cooking, plating, and serving the three hundred guests at the sumptuous Caribbean feast. The only drama she anticipates is a broken glass or two and perhaps one of executive chef Stephan Matthews's characteristic tirades. She is not prepared for the news that dozens of the party guests are flooding the city's emergency rooms just hours after dinner. Thanks to her husband's position in the Washington Metropolitan Police department, Cassie is privy to the news that the suspicious case of food poisoning was actually an attempt on the vice president's life. She realizes the would-be murderer was operating in the very kitchen where she was working. Determined to ferret out the culprit, Cassie slips back into the amateur detective mode she first explored in Land of the Blind. What she uncovers is an intricate web of blackmail, theft, diplomatic intrigue, and murder.