It's 1964 in the tiny town of Eastport, Maine, and Billie McCadie is bored to death. She's surrounded by dull people with more manners than sense, and no sign of the intrigue or romance that fills her beloved novels.

Then everything changes. An engagement ring and cryptic love letter addressed to 'Gertrude' turn up. Billie meets yacht-club handsome Avery Webster. Unsettling phone calls and visits from a man in a fedora begin. She ends up being one of the last people to see Gertrude alive—and the first to see her dead.

What follows is an intoxicating cocktail of stalking, blackmail, Jell-O salads, and champagne secrets, all served along the rocky Maine coastline. Everyone is a suspect. Everyone has a secret. And (strangely) everyone has a boat. But who is willing to kiss and tell? As the body count rises and the danger nears, why does Billie feel like she's more than just a side character?