While in Hawaii Our young Navy Lieutenant, JC Shelby and his wife Susan, are urged by their boss, the Fleet Admiral at Pearl Harbor, to assist an old cold war adversary, the captain of a Russian passenger ship now on a 'Circle of Fire' cruise, in solving the murder of one of the ship's officers. The case turns out to be far more complex than a simple act of violence. Money and unrequited love play a role. The Russian skipper, retired from the Navy, risks a peaceful retirement to a clime warmer than Siberia where he had spent his Navy career. The adventure carries them from Hawaii to the Galapagos, Ecuador, Papeete, and finally New Zealand