The Sweet Adelines international singing competition in San Antonio starts with a bang. Actually, it starts with two bangs—one for each woman killed in front of the Alamo. Before the week-long competition ends, the body count has risen to four—all the members of a Sweet Adeline quartet.

At 40-something, Tina Overton is a single mom and recent empty-nester who is new to Sweet Adelines. She’s got a job and a boyfriend, but she needs a hobby, and Sweet Adelines promises to take over her life—in a good way. Her chorus quickly becomes a second family. When she witnesses the Alamo murders, she resolves to find out who did the killing—and why. It may be stepping outside her job description as a public outreach officer for the police department, but Tina figures solving the murders will require both police training and getting insider information on Sweet Adelines.

With the help of Angela Bertram—her roommate, fellow chair of the costume committee, and all-over “deputy”—Tina goes behind the sequins to expose the dark side of Sweet Adelines. While facing hemline emergencies and enduring hotel coffee, Tina sifts through catty gossip, covert romances and costume faux pas until she finds the true reasons for the murders. What she finds goes to the heart of Sweet Adelines—and into the jealous hearts of those who live for it. And when she won’t accept the easy answer, Tina becomes a target herself.