A heated argument. A sexy statue. And a missing woman.

In the middle of the night, Bryn Baczek hears a shouting match on a nearby boat in the small, urban marina in Seattle that she calls home. Minutes later, there is a loud SPLASH,, followed by silence.

What was thrown off the aft deck of the Knotty Lady? Could it have been the body of the woman Bryn heard arguing with her neighbor about whether his statue of Aphrodite was art or porn? And why did the neighbor tell the police he spent the evening alone?

Several days later the woman is declared a missing person, and Bryn's neighbor is arrested. He appeals to Bryn for help, and she decides he is a lovesick loser but not a murderer. Meanwhile, her cantankerous but loveable cat Macavity also goes missing, and another of Bryn's short-lived goldfish buys the farm.

Bryn's investigation uncovers a complex tangle of corruption and fraud in the nonprofit world. Then, like a fog bow's flash of white light before the sun breaks through, Bryn has an aha moment when everything becomes clear. She finds herself one step ahead of the police in identifying the murderer-a step that puts her in a dangerous face-to-face confrontation.