As movie stars descend on Santa Barbara for an international film festival, smart-talking deputy chief detective Nola MacIntire and her handsome partner, Tony Angelotti, are out to solve the murder of a local street musician. It sounds like a simple-enough case of senseless killing—until a businessman who recently lost his shirt in the crash also loses his life. Suddenly, Nola and Tony have a tangled web of crime on their hands. And pulling the strings leads them to shady real estate deals, underground eco-radicals, and more danger than either wants to deal with.