Matilda Muldoon, a misplaced person since her residence burned to the ground, arrives in New Beach, Florida with nothing but time on her hand--that is before she drives down to the Gas'nSuch late at night to get a Coke and a Hershey bar. In the parking lot she witnesses a man run out of the store with another man chasing him and waving a gun. Before the gunman can shoot Chester Davis, he bumps into Matilda and whispers something in her ear. This sets her up for danger as she tries to solve a mystery than involves a murder-for-hire ring, the New Beach Police Department, and practically everyone associated with Carl Tanner's Pools and Spas. Detective Angelo tries unsuccessfully to dissuade Matilda from pursuing the crime, but Matilda is steadfast in her pursuit to find the reason for Chester's death, believing she owes it to him since she was the last person on earth to hear his cry for help. She will not rest until she pays this debt, even if means exposing bad cops, betraying her new best friend, or getting herself killed. Matilda, a former English teacher and now puzzle creator for hire, finds herself in the middle of a puzzle that seems to have no solution as she employs interrogation techniques she once used on her middle school students and the thinking process that goes into creating a puzzle.