Retired chief of police Al Snodgrass is jolted out of his Lazy-Boy recliner by a garbled transmission from a young cop at the scene of a gruesome murder. Murder in Granite Cove, a sleepy little tourist town on the north coast of Massachusetts, is something that just does not happen. With no one else responding, Al is drawn to help the new officer-one he hired and trained before being fired for dereliction of duty. Al's involvement can only lead to further bad blood between him, the new chief and the town fathers, but his sense of duty to Granite Cove drives him on.

The deeper Al digs into the case the more anomalies in the investigation he discovers. The current chief and her head of detectives seem more focused on antique coins and self-aggrandizement than achieving justice for a beautiful, young co-ed. Al uses his newly acquired status as a private investigator to fully insert himself into the investigation which leads to the attempted murder of a close friend and Al taking a bullet in an attempt to trap the perpetrator.

A Tin Full of Gold is a twisting tale of greed, lust, life and death and life in the quiet town of Granite Cove after the tourist season ends.