It's not exactly Xanadu but the Kubla Khan, Ormand Monaco's new super-luxury hotel in Palm Desert, California is designed and built to transport visitors to what such a palace would be like. He's planned a beauty contest as part of the grand opening but what nobody had planned on are a couple of murders that stir things up and start to spoil the show. Who better than Shell Scott to come in and sort things out? As he unravels the knots—and the one holding up Lyssa Weldon's towel unravels all by itself—the usual mix of lust and mayhem that surrounds Shell Scott spreads in all directions—and threatens to drown him if he doesn't finish sorting things out in a hurry.