Charleston's annual Isle of Palms Yacht Race is the perfect occasion for boiled crab, iced tea, and social téte-a-tétes. From their vantage point in White Pine Garden at the top of the Historic Peninsula, Theodosia Browning and her fellow picnickers watch sleek J-24s hurtle towards the finish line, masts straining, spinnakers billowing. But the dramatic battle between Charleston's two rival yacht clubs turns tragic. The ancient Civil War pistol used for the traditional finishing line gunshot suddenly explodes, killing the patriarch from one of Charleston's oldest families. As her neighbors go into mourning, Theodosia begins to unravel a family secret that stretches back over a hundred years, making her wonder: Was this truly an accident--or murder?