Penny Summers' first foray as a gardener brings her face to face with her newest friend, college sophomore Katelyn Blake, dead in a swamp-like goldfish pond. Penny, a former Navy public affairs officer, is determined to research an article about Katelyn, hoping to discover the killer. When she's put in charge of planning a monster Fourth of July festival, Penny is up to her tramp stamp in competing allegiances. Katelyn's Killer is woven into the fabric of Maryland's capital city and its two most famous schools, the U. S. Naval Academy and historic St. John's College. Where the scent of Chesapeake breezes, ancient boxwoods and old money mingle. "Jackson Pollock couldn't have improved on the macabre art: rips and bloodstains among the green, gray and ochre swirls of her camouflage jacket."