Maeve Gardner kills people for a living. A dodgy occupation perhaps, but as ghostwriter for the long-running Simon Hills mysteries, Maeve has planned the perfect murder time and again, and she enjoys it. She dreams of writing something under her own name someday rather than babysitting her adopted character Simon, but at least she's writing. And as one of the burnt-out souls who've run away from dry land to live on London's waterways, she has the joy of working from the home she loves: a colorful houseboat. Life on the canals is grand, but when her cheating ex-boyfriend turns up floating facedown in the water outside her boat, murdered, and the police arrest her, the plot takes a wayward turn.

Suddenly, Maeve is thrust into one of her own crime dramas, complete with missing money, violent thugs, extortion, and conspiracy. Only this time, there is no real-life Simon Hill to come to her aid. Instead, with the help of friends from the river--India, owner of a popular floating bookshop; Paul, the exceedingly attractive landlord of the local pub; and Ash, Maeve's quiet, nerdy neighbor who is keeping some secrets of his own--Maeve may have a shot at saving herself.

As Maeve and her motley crew of would-be investigators find themselves wondering if they are in over their heads, a killer lurks and won't hesitate to kill again...