A beautiful young woman washes up with the tide on Folly Beach, one of South Carolina's most pristine beaches, on a bitter cold New Year's Day. Or did she wash up with the tide? Doctor Jake Weber, the assistant coroner for Charleston County, figures out, quickly, that she was put there. He is sure she didn't fall off of a boat and drown. His forensic investigation leads him into the underbelly of an otherwise peaceful community. His findings rock the seats of corrupt power. After his boss pays with his life for his role in the matter he discovers that Peggy, a woman he has befriended through his investigation, is not as innocent as she proclaims. She is skillfully deceptive and a pathological liar. She worms her way into Jake's acquaintance, . She leads him inadvertently into the underworld of drugs and prostitution that led to the young woman's death. Will she implicate Jake? Will she extricate herself in the end? Will Jake solve the mystery?