A new dance school opens in Whitstable run by celebrity tango champions - Tony and Tanya Ballard. Pearl Nolan knows herself to be an ace cook and a sharp private eye but has always left the dancing to her mother, Dolly, a former member of the town's infamous Fish Slappers dance troupe. But Pearl becomes intrigued by the Ballards when they visit The Whitstable Pearl restaurant, and she realises that dance classes could provide the perfect cover for her clandestine relationship with DCI Mike McGuire. McGuire is the only man Pearl has ever considered partnering - and not just for tango - but the pair soon find themselves with more than steps to master when death joins them on the dance floor and a brutal killer stalks the school.