Super-sleuth Hannah Ives must conjure up all her detective skills when her niece does a vanishing act on a family cruise. Hannah, her sisters and fourteen-year-old niece Julie set sail from Baltimore on a bonding cruise, and have a dramatic first night when Pia Fanucci, a bubbly bartender magician´s assistant whom Hannah befriends, narrowly escapes injury during an illusion. But while Pia may make light of the incident, it´s no laughing matter when Julie suddenly disappears. Has she gone overboard, or is she injured somewhere on the enormous ship? To make matters worse, Hannah meets David Warren, a grieving father whose twenty-two-year-old daughter vanished without trace from an earlier cruise. With claims of a proper investigation proving to be an illusion too far, Hannah teams up with David and Pia in desperation. Can they see through the ship´s smoke and mirrors to reveal the identity of a dangerous sea-faring predator?