Jessica has come to the elegant Hamptons on Long Island's gold coast for a sinfully sweet spell in the sun and a chance to indulge her secret burning passion: painting. In this place where the arts flower and artists flock, she finds a sketching class where she can try to make her dreams of da Vinci-hood come true.

But Jessica has only a brief time behind an easel before she finds herself under the gun to solve a mystery as tantalizing as its victim. A lovely young model lies like a corpse on the studio floor, and Jessica needs no painter's eye to realize that her look of death is no pose. Soon, Jessica finds herself involved in a case where a mysterious masterpiece, a mountain of money, a mourning millionaire, and a slightly mad painter lead her down a twisting trail of illusion and confusion...