In 1895, the height of the Gilded Age, the social elite spend their summers in Newport, Rhode Island. Within the walls of their fabulous “cottages,” competition for superiority is ruthless … and so are the players. During her first Newport season, Deanna Randolph attends a ball given in honor of Lord David Manchester, a Barbadian sugar magnate, and his sister, Madeline. The Manchesters are an immediate success—along with their exotic manservant...

After the Museum of Yankee Horrors wins first place?and $10,000?in the town's official Haunted House contest, one of the contest judges is murdered, and it is up to Liz Montgomery to unmask a sore loser.