When the sandpiper calls

Christy Castleman, a mystery writer, is diligently finishing up her second novel when a real mystery strikes her small Florida town. First, a bottle with a mysterious and ominous note ("Call the police. Someone is trying to kill me.") washes ashore. Then townspeople notice that Marty McAllister, a local realtor, has been missing appointments, and Dr. Peter Stewart has been murdered in a neighboring town. Are all three circumstances somehow related? As the novel unfolds, readers learn the secrets in characters' backgrounds, including stolen jewels and an adulterous affair.