Murder at Wrightsville Beach — Ellen Elizabeth Hunter

FISH FOOD

It's a sweltering late August in North Carolina, and historic preservationist Ashley Wilkes is ready to hit the beach--after a quick business stop at an upscale art gallery owned by friend Valentine Russo. Inside the cool, elegant storefront, she finds Val dead at her desk, a bullet in her head, and the gallery walls bare of artwork.

The murderer follows Ashley to the beach house, where assorted suspicious houseguests, a bizarre bonfire and late-night break-ins paint a picture of art thieves, bad blood and dark secrets. When the lifeless body of Ashley's prime suspect washes ashore, she realizes she has figured out enough to make a killer determined to send her packing, permanently.