After five years consulting the New Orleans Police Department, Amy Clear finally signs on as a detective. Her first case falls in her lap by accident: while supporting a friend who was an exhibitor at the New Orleans Couture Cares fashion show at the museum, Amy and Paul find two bodies in a closed, adjoining gallery, and evidence of the fabulous Rothschild Jewels having been stolen. Along with police partner Officer Patrick Kowalski, Amy and Paul explore the links between the death of the stunning couture model Mackenzie Slaton and her two lovers: childhood sweetheart Hunter Stringfellow, and mysterious, glove-wearing arborist Skyler Blunt. As Amy investigates, she is shot by Stringfellow and then falls off the side of a mountain. She is attacked by Blunt and thrown in a quicksand bayou. When Amy and Paul eventually emerge from that bayou, tired and dehydrated, they must deal with a carnivorous, open-jawed alligator. Despite Paul's advice, Amy pursues the officer romantically, until the two of them are caught in a compromising embrace by the officer's estranged wife. As they follow the evidence, Amy and Kowalski put aside their anger and hurt feelings to confront the prime suspect against the backdrop of a traveling circus. When the killer holds the officer hostage, Amy must prevail against the murderer and a prejudiced police captain to save her professional partner and recover what is left of the Rothschild Jewels.