When the body of the glamorous film star Margot Browne washes ashore, Max’s former colleague, Patrice Logan, requests his help. It’s a perfect closed-circle murder: Margot must have been killed by one of the actors, stylists, scriptwriters, or second-tier royalty aboard the yacht. Patrice suspects the yacht’s owner, a playboy film director she’s been keeping tabs on for smuggling, but Max isn’t so sure. During his investigation, Max uncovers secrets about the star’s life that make him wonder if Margot was killed to help keep her lurid past in the past. As Max continues his investigation though, he uncovers a host of motives, and it seems that Margot wasn’t the only person on board with a secret to keep.