Frogless frog stew.

Spanish moss.

The swish of a canoe paddle dipping silently through the deep waters of a quiet lake. The far off sound of the twitter of birds and rustle of feathers.

Idyllic? Yes.

And deadly, since once again James P. Dandy and Dodee Swisher have met for an Elderhostel, this time in South Carolina, learning how to canoe on the Santee-Cooper lakes. The trip takes a startling turn when Jim and Dodee stumble across a body in the middle of Sparkleberry Swamp. The local sheriff stirs things up when he finds an empty dynamite box, and one of their group, a retired FBI guy, sees conspiracies everywhere.