Jinx Julep welcomes the Miss Mango Beauty Pageant to her ramshackle Hawaiian resort, Coconut Cove, counting on publicity, photo ops, and a few eligible bachelors for Ruby to terrorize.
Before the first sash is tied, the pageant director is found dead on the beach, and Jinx starts questioning sequined suspects whose secrets are as sharp as their smiles.
She is trapped with one of them during a mud-soaked ranch tour, hikes the Kalalau Trail in heels she swears she will never wear again, and barely gets through a terrifying photo shoot at the blowhole while a ranch guide fixes on Detective Koa Hale.
The pageant continues, the malasadas disappear, and cook Lani keeps working with her wooden spoon as Jinx comes to suspect blackmail, tiaras, and an old grudge.
She still has to catch the killer who has smiled at her all week, because the loveliest face in paradise may be the most dangerous.
