Family, Friends and Fatalities

Checking out has never been so final

Storms are brewing in peaceful Sunrise Bay as Charlie's boyfriend prepares to battle his vindictive ex for custody of their little girl. A night out at a fancy hotel with her book club pals is a ray of sunshine among Charlie's clouds-until a woman falls to her death from a hotel balcony.

Was it a tragic accident or something more sinister? The woman's husband claims he was walking on the beach when she fell, but if that's true, why don't his shoes have any sand on them? And, speaking of footwear, why has one of the dead woman's own shoes gone missing?

It's a puzzle Charlie's determined to resist. With the custody hearing looming, this is no time to be poking her nose into a police investigation. But when her dog finds the missing shoe, Charlie's caught up in the case in spite of irate detectives, uncooperative suspects, and the collateral damage to her private life. Sometimes the best way to weather a storm is to face it head-on.