After eking out a living as an adjunct professor in Washington DC, fisheries ecologist Alex Allaway lands a job running a small marine station back in her hometown. Arriving in River Glen to surprise her grandfather with her the good news, Alex is horrified to discover him dead, a bloody dagger in his heart. His clenched fist grasps a piece of pirate gold and a cryptic map with her name on it.
While the police investigate the murder, Alex begins her own search for answers. Aboard the tugboat Vital Spark, she sails the Chesapeake in pursuit of treasure that belonged to a distant relative, the pirate Giles Blood-hand. But, descendants of a rival pirate family are also, looking for the bounty that's been hidden for over three centuries, and they'll think nothing of dispatching Alex once they, discover she's in the way.
