After a record-breaking tourist season, Bar Harbor is ready for the less eventful off-season. But the murder of a barbecue baron will keep restaurateur Hayley Powell busy well after Labor Day . . .

Hayley and her husband are snuggled into a secluded spot on Maine's rocky shoreline to take in the big fireworks display on Frenchman's Bay. But when they find Hank Desmond's body floating in the darkness, it looks like summer is ending with a bang—from a gun registered to a rival BBQ chef.

Despite the evidence, Hayley thinks there's more to the story than a gunshot from a disgruntled pit master. Unfortunately, the new police chief, just arrived from Boston, is more interested in layoffs than in listening to Hayley's theories. So she starts grilling anyone she can to find out what happened on the party boat that Hank was aboard earlier in the evening—accompanied by his much-younger wife and a sleazy seasonal resident. There are also some competitors who've been skewering Hank, owner of the BBQ joint The Smokehouse, for his business practices, including the owners of a diner and a food cart.

Hayley just hopes that when the smoke clears, she'll be able to serve up the real culprit to the cops—and bring the temperature down in this picturesque town . . .