In 1718, on the storm-ravaged Carolina coast, Cristabel Lamonte, a young daughter of a plantation owner, is kidnapped by the infamous pirate Blackbeard. Throughout her abduction and thereafter she keeps a diary of this traumatic event, including the location of his buried treasure.

Nearly three hundred years later, the diary is discovered in a pile of donated books by Josephine Sharpe, a bookstore owner in Nag’s Head, North Carolina. Jo is fascinated with the diary, especially the clues apparently leading to the legendary treasure. Immediately she decides to do some research into the diary’s facts and see if she can follow the pirate’s trail. She proceeds accompanied by friend and foe alike, plus the bookstore cat, Marlowe.

What starts off as an innocent quest for information turns into a string of murders in the small towns along the Outer Banks, causing Jo to fear for her own safety. When her soon-to-be ex-husband gets involved things become more and more complicated—even deadly.

However, she can’t let Cristabel’s fate go unrevenged, and vows to stop the killer and find the treasure at all costs.