Brinley Brubaker’s decision to move to Hawkins Harbor and take over running a beachside coffee shop didn’t include seeing a dead body on the beach. It doesn’t help that her newly adopted dog made the discovery or that finding a corpse close to work is bad for business.

She soon learns the deceased is a local man with a less than stellar reputation who recently disappeared from his boat. Since falling overboard doesn’t lead to a sandy grave, the reports of an accidental death quickly turn to foul play. Things get worse when rumors of an innocent encounter make her aunt a suspect. 

Can Brinley and her amateur sleuthing friends find the killer and clear her aunt’s name before someone else ends up buried in the sand?