Blues singer Buddy Blaine is overjoyed with his summer gig at Tuffy's on the beach strip. In exchange for performing two sets a day, he's awarded room and board, a few hundred bucks a week, and the attention of 40-something Beach Strip celebrity Josie Marshall. Plus the friendship of gorgeous and soon-to-be wealthy Abby Bergen, star of Tuffy's beach volleyball team. But when Abby is found in Buddy's room garroted with a string from his guitar, his sunny world turns dark and dangerous. Especially when homicide detective Drew Deforest, who has all the grace of a hungry pit bull, leads the murder investigation. Deforest and his team find themselves dealing with a cast of characters that includes Tuffy's hot-shot manager, an infatuated witness to Abby's impromptu strip-tease performances, a shady night watchman, and various others. Then, like it or not, Josie Marshall becomes entangled in the investigation and an unexpected romance. The tension climaxes with a midnight conflagration and a stunning solution to the mystery. Or, as one of Buddy's original tunes puts it: Terror we expect But love always takes us By surprise? In this third book of the Beach Series, John Lawrence Reynolds brings down the house on one of the finest Canadian crime series in decades. AUTHOR: John Lawrence Reynolds has authored or co-authored more than 30 books. A graduate of McMaster University (English & Psychology), he left a career as Creative Director with a major ad agency to explore other interests, including music, photography, film directing and travel writing before publishing his first novel, The Man Who Murdered God. A past-president of Crime Writers of Canada, he has won three Arthur Ellis awards for mystery fiction and a National Business Book Award, among other honours. Dubbed "Canada's best and busiest ghost-writer" (National Post), John has worked with people such as Justin Trudeau, Shark Tank panelist Robert Herjavec (three books), and several major U.S. and Canadian business and political personalities. His best-selling work on the history of secret societies, titled Shadow People, was published in 12 languages and 15 countries.