Ariel’s Aunt Luna is hosting a family party, and while Ariel expects the usual chaos, things take a wild turn when a loud, blood-curdling scream shatters the fun. Next door, Judith Peabody has been found dead in her backyard, strangled by her own watering hose. Judith was the classic nosy neighbor, and her constant meddling earned her plenty of enemies. One of those enemies? Aunt Luna. Though everyone knows Luna is innocent, Ariel is determined to find the real killer and clear her aunt’s name. Ariel teams up with her friend Asher and her cousin Raven to investigate, while her snarky black familiar, Dori, is more of a distraction than a help. Even though her sheriff boyfriend, Henry, insists she stay out of it, Ariel feels too powerless to just sit back and do nothing. Meanwhile, Ariel is struggling to control her sun magic. Her powers are growing unstable, and unless she can master them, she’ll remain stuck wearing a magic-dampening collar at night. To make matters worse, her out-of-control magic is attracting attention from dangerous supernatural beings, many of whom would rather see her dead. With her heart racing and her powers on the edge of spiraling out of control, Ariel must keep her cool while hunting the killer—or risk alerting enemies who want her gone.