As the chair of a team sent to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for Girls, Maggie Detweiler expects to be as welcome as a case of Ebola virus. Yet upon the group’s arrival on campus, no one seems keener for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected despite her affliction—she can’t stop talking.

The following morning, Florence fails to show up for class and her husband seems more annoyed than alarmed at her disappearance. Florence’s sister, however, is distraught. There have been tensions in the marriage, and during their last visit, Florence had warned, “If anything happens to me, don’t assume it’s an accident.” Two days later, Florence’s body is found in the campus swimming pool.

Maggie obviously knows schools, but she also knows something about investigating murder. She and her madcap socialite friend, Hope Babbin, solved a mysterious death in Maine the previous year. Soon Hope, who was looking for a reason to ditch her book club anyway, has joined Maggie at Rye Manor to try to uncover what on earth is going on in this idyllic town that seems to have more than its share of secrets. Is this a garden-variety marital murder? Could it have something to do with a school trustee’s real-estate schemes? Or is it possible that someone killed Florence just so she’d finally shut up?