Loaded with dark humor and sharp wit, this wild ride through the ’80s follows an advice columnist trying to unravel the mystery of the dead body on her lawn—while keeping her own secrets under wraps.

Until 1989, the wildest thing to happen in the sleepy town of Sheboygan Bay was surfers catching waves on frigid Lake Michigan. Then one summer morning, Lorraine Highsmith wakes up to find a corpse on her lawn.

Detective Michaela “Mike” Zenoni is on the case immediately, eager to make a name for herself in a male-dominated precinct. And Lorraine is close behind—as the local advice columnist, she’s always looking for a scoop.

What they don’t know is that Lorraine once had ties to the mob, and those connections could be coming back to haunt her. A recent transplant to Wisconsin, she keeps her past shrouded in mystery, and she’d like to keep it that way.

Mike might be working with her to find the killer, but Lorraine knows that alliances can change on a dime. She needs to get ahead of this story . . . no matter who’s trying to put an end to hers.

Erica Ruth Neubauer is the Agatha Award–winning author of the Jane Wunderly Mystery series. She spent eleven years in the military, nearly two as a Maryland police officer, and one as a high school English teacher before finding her way as a writer. For several years, she was a reviewer of mysteries and crime fiction for publications such as Publishers Weekly and Mystery Scene magazine. She’s currently a member of the Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America organizations. Erica Ruth lives outside Madison, Wisconsin, although her heart will always be in Milwaukee.