Death is discovered on an idyllic southern California island when feisty British gossip columnist Tosca Trevant is banished to the U.S. at the request of Buckingham Palace. Idly snooping out of sheer boredom, she stumbles across what she believes to be human remains in a recently widowed music professor's rock garden. Tosca asks a retired U.S. Secret Service agent for help, and by solving the riddle of a coded music score, the two sleuths bring a serial killer to an unexpected end.

Murders, a mysterious gemstone, and lost manuscripts offer banished Brit journalist Tosca Trevant a chance to earn her way back to her beloved Cornwall and her job in London. The strange happenings at her California island home include a woman dropping dead practically at Tosca's feet, a famous author's works showing up under suspicious circumstances, and a creepy collector of rare musical instruments. Helped by retired Secret Service Agent Thatch MacAuley and a few well-placed Cornish cuss words, Tosca digs deep to track down the killer.