It’s a beautiful day in Hawai’i. Kay Yoshinobu and Sid Chu have been invited for a day trip on the luxurious Forbes yacht. At the outset, the excursion meets all expectations. The food is wonderful, the seas are calm, the magnificent boat is obviously in competent hands. There’s an undercurrent of unease, however, centering chiefly on their hostess—the recently widowed Joanna Forbes. Two rivals for her affection hover around her. One is young, athletic Bart Cain. The other is dentist David Rouse. And others on board also seemed to be involved in emotional and dangerous cross currents of their own.

Even so, there is little thought of actual physical danger when Bart decides to do some lone scuba diving. Twenty minutes later, there is reason for concern. From the side of the boat, the onlookers can see the diver is in trouble. Rescue efforts fail, and Bart is pronounced dead soon after they get the body back to shore.

At first, it seems like a tragic accident. The discovery of nitrous oxide in his diving bottle indicates a murder took place, and Rouse is the natural suspect. Kay, in the meantime, is representing Joanna’s brother in a DUI case and uses that as an excuse to look further into Bart’s death, convinced as she is that David Rouse is innocent.

More tragedies follow in the wake of the ill-fated boating day, and only the combined efforts of Kay, Sid, Laura and the cooperative Elima police prevent even more deaths

For other mysteries by John Broussard go to Boson's Fiction webpage