When private detective Charlotte Austin accepts her latest commission, she immediately knows it will be an unusual one. A bizarre letter from the Mayor of Port Providence arrives asking for help investigating the mysterious disappearance of a missing ship, which has suddenly reappeared without crew or cargo.

During her first attempts to solve the case, Charlotte realizes that the reports in the local press about an alleged curse may be more than local folklore. Her encounter with a hooded figure in the supposedly abandoned shipwreck, along with other seemingly impossible events, reinforce her belief that there is more going on in Portsmouth than meets the eye.

Detective Austin must discover the link between the abandoned ship, Devil Island, and the unsolved murder of a local family. Will she discover the curse that is dooming ships out of Portsmouth, and be able to stop it before more people die?