Bean to chocolate maker Felicity Koerber has been invited to be part of a chocolate festival in Tokyo. It’s a big deal for a Texas gal with a chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand, so a whole group of her friends come along to support her. It’s intimidating enough to be giving a class on chocolate making with the help of a translator – she also stumbles across the scene of a murder, where a quirky group of international actors and stunt performers are making a monster movie. Felicity has already solved half a dozen murders back in Texas, so at this point her friends basically expect her to get involved – even before the young media influencer in Felicity’s group becomes the main suspect. Felicity has taken on the role of chaperone for Chloe, so she can’t imagine how she could explain what went wrong to the girl’s mother. Which gives her even more motivation to figure out the real killer.

In the meantime, things get complicated at the chocolate festival when a rival chocolate maker tries to get her disqualified from the awards competition – and claims that her amateur sleuth status is bringing undesirables into the festival. And things are even more complicated as the stress of being in an unfamiliar place brings out secrets about Felicity’s friends – and her fiancé.

Honda the calico cat makes an appearance on the movie set, making Felicity homesick for her pet bunny, left at home. But the cat may know more about what happened than she is letting on. Can Felicity solve the murder in time to keep Chloe from getting arrested, while making things right with the people she cares about, and presenting a good showing at the chocolate festival?