In the seaside town of Lighthouse Cove in northern California, everyone knows the best man for the job is actually a woman--contractor Shannon Hammer. But while her home-renovation and repair business is booming, her love life needs work.

On a blind date with real estate agent Jerry Saxton, Shannon has to whip out a pair of pliers to keep Jerry from getting too hands on. She's happy to put her rotten date behind her, but when Jerry's found dead in a run-down Victorian home that she's been hired to restore, the town's attractive new police chief suspects that her threats may have laid the foundation for murder.

Determined to clear her name, Shannon conducts her own investigation--with the help of her four best friends, her eccentric father, a nosy neighbor or two, and a handsome crime writer who's just moved to town. But as they get closer to prying out the murderer's identity, Shannon is viciously attacked. Now she'll have to nail down the truth--or end up in permanent foreclosure...