In The X Dames, New York writer/photographer Lucy Ripken gets lucky when an old friend calls with fabulous job offer: come to LA to work on a new reality TV show—catchily called The X Dames--featuring a shifting cast of curvaceous female athletes competing in extreme sports.

Bored in New York and slightly desperate for a paying job, Lucy jumps at the chance and makes a move to Southern California. Soon she finds herself en route to Mexico's Pacific coast, to the small but booming resort town of Sayulita, location for the show's premiere event: a women's surfing contest. Gigantic surf, real estate shenanigans, and a mysterious death by drowning combine to transform the reality show into a real-time investigation of murder in the high waves.

With video cameras recording everything for the upcoming premiere of The X Dames, Lucy and her pals soon find themselves deeply enmeshed in uncovering a conspiracy involving crooked real estate dealers, corrupt politicians, and an old nemesis returning from one of Lucy's earlier adventures.