John Stella goes from his home in Hamilton New Hampshire to Sarasota Florida to look into the murder of a friend's sister. There he begins to work with the local police and in particular Detective Sargeant Ellie Grasso. He is immediately taken with the sheer beauty of the town and the sheer corruption of its ruling elite. With the help of a grizzled local reporter, he begins to realize the potential connections that might have produced the murder and possibly other murders. The conspirators are after several parcels of land whose value will be greatly enhanced by the coming of an Olympic training facility and are using an ex-convict to murder the owners in the nursing homes where they reside. John comes t0o the attention of the bad guys and is soundly beaten, kidnapped and threatened with death, only to be saved by Ellie's timely intervention. Ultimately, he tracks down the actual murderer in the swamps of central Florida, unravels the conspiracy an brings the perpetrators to justice. By this time, he and Ellie are a couple and he decides to spend at least half the year in his new-found paradise.