There's no smell quite like a decomposing corpse. When Detectives Daggers and Steele find a body washed ashore after two weeks at sea, they're only too happy to put it behind them, following the trail to a quaint, seaside village-but the town's idyllic exterior can't hide a rotten core. The victim was in a venomous marriage, the local police might be corrupt, and a pervasive legend lingers on the lips of every local. Daggers soon has his hands full, but it's a more personal issue keeping him up at night-a dark fault lingering within. With his relationship with Steele floating adrift, Daggers must figure out how to steer both the case and his troubles to safe harbor. The future is murky, like a frothy gray sea of LIQUID STEELE.