Things couldn't be worse for Dan Marlowe unless he'd been found in bed with a dead woman. In this, the fifth novel in the Dan Marlowe series, Dan is asked to look into the disappearance of a young Hampton Beach waitress. But when the girl's body is found buried in the dunes-on the Island section of the beach only yards from Dan's cottage- he finds himself the prime suspect in her murder. To clear himself, Dan must uncover the real culprit among a cast of unsavory characters that includes a local outlaw motorcycle gang, a big-time heroin dealer, two sleazy beach pimps, and a scam artist restaurant owner. As if finding the killer isn't enough to keep Dan dipping into his anxiety medication, his personal life is rockier than the beach jetty. His own fault, but if he doesn't straighten it out, he may find himself a customer again at that little drug den on a dark back street of Hampton Beach. And that would be the end of Dan Marlowe.