Private investigator Regan Reilly agrees to fly with her best friend to Hawaii for a weekend at the prestigious Waikiki Waters resort. But she cannot escape from work: early in the morning, the body of a woman who worked as a photojournalist at the hotel is found on a deserted beach. She is wearing an expensive Hawaiian shell necklace, stolen thirty years ago from a local museum. The police are inclined to consider this an accident. However, Regan and manager Will Brown are far from convinced. The personality of the deceased was too contradictory; she arrived in Hawaii just three months ago and had already acquired a reputation as an obnoxious lady, unpredictable and sharp-tongued.