A Flare For Murder

It’s more than a shot across the bow when young solo sailor Jennifer Travers is murdered on her yacht with a flare gun.

Who would kill Jennifer in her homeport after her year-long voyage at sea? Nicola and Charlie navigate their way through the clues: a cut that won’t heal, a hidden compartment and a coded message. In discovering Jennifer’s secret, they strike a whole new mystery.

Could it have been her father Alistair? He’s the Commodore of the Beach Haven Yacht Club and knows all the ins and outs of the club’s marina. He’s also an angry and often violent drunk, who was seen manhandling Jennifer at her homecoming party. Perhaps it was Claire: Jennifer’s best friend since childhood. She has been overshadowed by Jennifer her whole life – in yachting, in school, in love. Claire says she’s in a relationship with Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend Trent, but he wouldn’t call it that – and he still has feelings for Jennifer. Would Claire kill her best friend over a boy? Then there’s the broody, rugged Louis, who hasn’t sailed in a long time. Jennifer was spending a lot of time with him before she left. Was their connection purely mentor and student?

What about Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend, Trent? He was hurt and humiliated when Jennifer dumped him without explanation before she left. Has Trent been stewing over the breakup and taken out the ultimate lover’s revenge? Jennifer’s stepmother, Mai, may be fighting for her husband’s innocence but she could lose much more. As executor of Alistair’s estate and business, she would go bankrupt if anything threatened Jennifer’s sponsorship deal… and Jennifer’s secret is certainly a threat.

But someone has their hand on the rudder for the twists and turns of this mystery – and they have earmarked Nicola for a watery grave.