Trolling for Murder (A Vashon Island Mystery, Book 2) (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798993822341)

Lavender "Lew" Lewis takes a friend's dog on an early morning run and discovers a body at one of the island's most popular tourist spots. A local teacher who was overheard threatening the victim because his son bullied another student becomes the prime suspect, and Lew agrees to quietly poke around to see if she can nudge the investigation toward someone more deserving.

In search of other suspects, Lew quickly learns how unpopular the victim was. She takes a hard look at the victim's son, the bitter ex-wife, the young live-in girlfriend, the boy he bullied, and the hostile neighbors. When she confronts Nolan, the victim's son, he tries to intimidate her physically, but she turns the tables on him, embarrassing him in front of his two followers. When Nolan vows to exact revenge by shooting her dog, one of his followers pushes back and receives a severe beating for standing up to Nolan.

Not long after the fight, Nolan's two buddies run away, and the father of the injured boy enlists Lew's help to find them. Her attraction to the boy's widowed father grows as they search together for the missing teenagers. When they learn that the boys took off in a sailboat during a tsunami watch, the search becomes more urgent.

After the boys are forced to return and explain why they ran away, Lew is concerned that the man she is becoming attached to might be a murderer. She is relieved when she discovers still another suspect with a strong financial motive. Everyone is convinced she has solved the murder. Then she decides to follow up on one loose end, only to learn what really happened to the victim. Confronted by a choice between revealing the truth and following her feelings, she reluctantly sets her feelings aside.