While sea breezes fill the air in the peaceful and historic whaling town of Chatham Crossing, VENUS BIXBY is counting on Fourth of July weekend festivities to propel her to an enviable position of stature and influence she’s worked so hard to attain. After years of living in the shadow of her late husband, Venus will finally be the center of attention: starting with her fiftieth birthday celebration and ending as the parade’s Grand Marshal.

Faster than a cookie crumbles, her dream collapses on the morning of her party when she trips over orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth in Chatham Crossing’s first murder in decades.

Given this unexpected turn of events, will Venus ever sing and dance at her birthday party, or will her fractured thumb end up in handcuffs?