Sarah Hawthorne is a successful organizational consultant. She has big plans to overhaul Martech Corporation's outdated business model, so she's surprised when the CEO hires an eccentric business guru named Scorpio who claims to be Martech's savior. Scorpio and his cronies plan an executive retreat at a posh Napa Valley resort, and despite her misgivings, Sarah agrees to participate The retreat is a disaster. Scorpio is more of a cult leader than a corporate consultant, and Martech's executive team rebels against Scorpio's intense and inflammatory tactics. They don't realize, however, that he won't be a problem much longer. The next morning, Scorpio is found dead in the sauna. Sarah immediately throws herself into solving the mystery of Scorpio's murder, much to the annoyance of her husband. But soon she unlocks old employment secrets, broken promises, and shady financial alliances, all while fighting off her growing attraction to one of the murder suspects.

Scorpio isn't the only one who ends up dead, however, and Sarah's powers of deduction eventually put her in the danger zone. "Murder On Retreat," the sequel to "Murder On The 33rd Floor," is the second in B. Kim Barnes's series of witty mysteries starring Sarah Hawthorne.