Time is running out for Investigator Anne Quinn and Detective Doug Bateman.

An ESPN sponsored powerboat regatta is coming to their tranquil lake in central Maine, but a shadowy environmental group is fighting back with nighttime attacks on race planners and participants. Most of the nocturnal attacks by the "Water Rats," who consider the two days of boat races a desecration of their lake and their way of life, are pretty minor. But when Doug and Anne determine that the accidental deaths of two local men involved in regatta planning were in fact homicides, they must try to figure out if they are linked to the increasing hostility between regatta sponsors and the "Water Rats."

It seems unlikely that disagreement over a boat race would lead to murder, however, and their investigation soon gets entangled with ex-wives and widows, jealous and spurned lovers, insurance payouts, and secret overseas bank accounts.