Tibbie Dyer, an impulsive, forty-three-year-old journalist, fears there is more to the story when Sandy, her gay, older sister, drowns in a boating accident off Cape Cod. As Tibbie hunts down the four survivors, she must confront her own strained relationship with Sandy as she finds out whether it was an accident or murder. Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the secrets behind what happened, but also in the damaged lives of everyone else involved. Luke Blackmore, Sandy's sexually harassing boss and the boat's owner, remains at the Manhattan publishing company where Sandy worked. But, Penelope Blackmore, Luke's manipulative daughter and ex-Vice President, has fled mysteriously to a deserted mill town with Hayden Pierce, Sandy's photographer ex-girlfriend. Myles Small, the company's former graphic designer, who has a bad stammer and worse coke habit, is barely surviving in a rundown train boxcar near the scene of the accident. One by one, Tibbie ferrets out what these survivors are hiding until the shocking conclusion of what it costs her to learn the truth about her sister and herself.