Hearing news of an impending raid by Immigration officials, Jill-of-all-trades Alex Adler rushes to Monte Cassino, an island retreat off the Maine coast known for harboring South American refugees. She finds the island deserted and, trapped by the tide as a fierce Nor'easter hits, she stumbles into a cabin for shelter - only to discover the body of a vaguely familiar man. Waiting out the storm she puzzles over the murderer - Was it the charismatic but eccentric Santa Clara, an expelled nun and hub of the community's universe (not to mention the ex-lover of Alex and many other women)? Or another of the refugees, drifters and quirky locals who make up this unusual community?