The first of two books, Another Fine Mess, tells how Pete Erickson takes a rich widow as a paying passenger when he sails to Alaska. Her son has been involved with Pete's old schoolmate, who sets out to sink him. In this book, Another Fine Mess II, Pete admits that he wishes Mrs. Helgesen had gone on the trip with him. She's the wife of the minister in their watery town on Puget Sound, where fish, boats, and gossip are the chief industries. The business partners of Pete's old schoolmate want revenge and infiltrate his sleepy little town. It's another fine mess.