It's the Fourth of July weekend in Duck, North Carolina and twenty-thousand visitors are on hand to enjoy the parade, the festivities - and learn about the murder of Captain Bill Lucky. Lucky is the captain of the new gambling ship, Andalusia II, which is modeled after the famous ghost ship that haunts the small town on the Outer Banks. Whispers of unusual sea creatures surround Lucky's death. It isn't the first time that mermaids have been seen in Duck, but it's the first time one of them has been accused of murder. Mayor Dae O'Donnell has her hands full with setting up the parade, convincing her friend Trudy she shouldn't call off her wedding, and getting her shop, Missing Pieces, ready for the summer crowd. Dae doesn't ask to be involved in Lucky's death, but she can't ignore it. If someone from the sea isn't his killer, who is? And will he or she strike again to lay the blame on the town's watery visitors?