Mary Beth and Priscilla Connolly attempt to cover up a gruesome run-in with a dangerous man. To conceal their crime, the sisters must go deep into the criminal underbelly of their hometown, uncovering the town's darkest secrets.
Welcome to Easter Cove, a remote and insular fishing village on Maine's rocky coast. In this small town, bonds run as deep as the ocean and secrets are as thick as the morning fog. Each day, droves of men take to sea for the daily catch while a handful of women serve as the community's powerful, albeit discrete, operators. Though the self-interested code of the town's old guard has governed for years, our tale takes place as the tides are turning in Easter Cove. Mary Margaret Connolly, a beloved and integral town matriarch, has just passed away. In the wake of her death, her daughters, Mary Beth and Priscilla, face an uncertain future, haunted by bills and unpaid loans left behind. Priscilla tries to fill her mother's shoes by taking over the family fish shop while her younger sister Mary Beth refuses to accept the new responsibilities. The sisters find themselves at odds and Mary Beth stubbornly defends her dream of leaving town - even if it means abandoning Priscilla altogether. Meanwhile, across town, at a bed and breakfast-turned-brothel, established town elder and madame Enid Nora Devlin is up to business as usual, except for two huge problems: someone stole $50K in cash and one of her girls, Dee, has gone missing. With little else to do, she sends her muscle, an outsider named Gorski, in pursuit of the cash and Dee. After a series of chance wrong turns sets Gorski on a collision course with Mary Beth, she accidentally kills him and must turn to the only person she has left: her sister. Together, the Connolly sisters must cover up Mary Beth's mistake and figure out what to do with the mysterious bag of cash they found in his shack. When Dee's body washes up on shore, the town's remaining matriarchs - Doreen, Gail and Susie - snap into action. These three, along with Enid and Mary Margaret, have quietly maintained the code of conduct for decades, navigating the murky water of the town's dubious past. The matriarchs intervene and make it their business to decide Enid's fate - as well as the fate of the Connolly sisters.
Priscilla and Mary Beth Connolly are sisters living in the small fishing town of Easter Cove, Maine, whose mother has recently died. At the wake, Doreen Burke, Susie Gallagher, and Gail Maguire, contemporaries of their mother, offer condolences. Mary Beth learns that the family fishmonger business is in trouble and that their mother took out a loan against the house which could jeopardize their continued ownership of it. After arguing with Priscilla, she storms out and heads to a bar. Mary Beth begins drinking with a man named Gorski. Later she is driving him home, but crashes the car when he caresses her leg. When they get out to inspect the damage, the trunk accidentally opens and Mary Beth sees blood inside. Gorski attempts to force himself on her and she flees. When he follows her, she stabs him with a harpoon and then bashes his head in with a brick.
Mary Beth returns home covered in blood to a shocked Priscilla, who calls the police, but changes her mind and hangs up. Priscilla helps Mary Beth get rid of Gorski's body, using a knife to chop up his arms to make the body fit in a cooler box that they then throw into the ocean. The next day, Priscilla can't find the knife they used, which has 'Connolly Fish' written on it. Mary Beth goes to Gorski's shack to find the knife, but instead finds a bag containing $50,000. Later, Enid, a brothel owner, sees the Connolly knife in Gorski's shack.
Local policeman Brennan asks to borrow the Connolly's boat, indicating that a body has washed up on shore. Priscilla is terrified that it is Gorski but it turns out be a woman named Dee, who worked for Enid. Brennan and his older partner Colletti interview Enid, who tries to steer them away from the brothel. Brennan finds her suspicious, but is warned off by Colletti, who has known Enid for years. Priscilla and Mary Beth talk to Doreen who reveals that years ago she, Susie, Gail, and their mother had made a decision: to satisfy the lusts of the fishermen, and protect their own daughters, they allowed Enid to open the Oceanview brothel.
Brennan and Coletti find Gorski's car, which has a gun inside, and blood and a terrible smell in the trunk. The officers are sure that Gorski must be the murderer. Meanwhile, Alexis, one of Enid's working girls, knowing Enid owed Dee money, believes Enid had her killed. Enid blackmails the Connolly sisters to bring back the money they took from Gorski's shack in exchange for the knife she found there. The sisters decide to confess everything to the police the following day. That night, Officer Brennan, who is attracted to Priscilla, comes over for dinner and asks them about the call made to the police the night of the murder. They change their mind about confessing. Gail, Susie, and Doreen go to confront Enid. Telling her that she has crossed a line, they inform her that they will no longer allow her to operate the brothel and that she should leave town. Brennan has drinks with a friend and learns that Mary Beth had been seen with Gorski the night he disappeared.
The Connolly sisters go to Enid and return the money. She tells them how much she misses their mother and how their mother left the brothel business to protect the two of them. She offers them some of the money and tells them that they could work for her after it runs out. When they refuse the money, Enid turns angry, calling them names before drunkenly collapsing. The girls get the knife and leave. Alexis, having overheard the whole thing, enters Enid's room and smothers her to death with a pillow. She takes the money and leaves town with one of the other girls from the brothel. Doreen notices something in the water.
Gail comes to see Coletti about Oceanview. The next morning he informs Brennan that they're going to close down Oceanview. They see Priscilla and Mary Beth walking down the street, but Brennan says he isn't interested in Priscilla anymore. The sisters pass by Gail and Doreen, who are singing "Blow the Man Down", and then see Susie washing out the cooler which had contained Gorski's body. Susie smiles at them.
(copied from Wikipedia)
