When the serenity of beautiful Longboat Key, Florida, is shattered by a murder, and an elderly resident goes missing, Detective Jennifer Diane (J.D.) Duncan leaps into action. Her investigation is temporarily interrupted when she receives a text message with a current photo of a college friend she thought was dead. Matt Royal— J.D.’s friend and more— jumps in to help her. Further assistance comes when Matt’s friend Jock Algren visits. Jock is a shadowy operative of the U.S. government’s most secretive intelligence agency and has ties all the way to the president.

As the mystery deepens, a group of devious and dangerous characters intrudes on the lives of the islanders, creating havoc unusual for a sun-splashed island full of retirees and beach bums. Matt, J.D., and Jock rush to find the answer to why one old man was killed and another disappeared, the meaning of the photo sent to J.D. of her almost surely-dead college friend, and why somebody is trying to kill them.