“Summer, can you come here, please?” Elliot hissed, carrying an almost comical look of panic on his face as he waved at me frantically. A woman swathed in a red sheath dress and reeking of money stood next to him, lips curled in a sneer, nostrils flared. I looked around at the happy families swarming the Fairmont Orchid lobby, oohing and ahhing over the extravagant Christmas decorations, and then back at the woman.

Curious, I decided to have mercy on Elliot and sauntered over. “What’s up?” I asked.

“Someone stole my necklace!” the woman raged as she clutched her bare neck before jabbing a finger at Elliot. “You better find it!”

Elliot smiled at her brightly, if slightly manically. “Summer here’s a private investigator. She’ll find it in no time.”

The woman eyed me with barely concealed skepticism.

Which, if I were being honest, was fair. Technically, I wasn’t actually an investigator. My dad recently moved his thriving PI firm from Arizona to the Big Island to be closer to me. After I’d been wrongly accused of murdering my neighbor and put on leave at my lifeguarding job a couple months ago, my dad took pity on me and offered me a job working as his assistant.

Since then, I’d helped part time, mostly doing background checks—not tracking down lost jewels.

“Can you tell me what happened?” I looked her squarely in the eye and tried not to fidget.

“That dummy,” she jabbed at Elliot again with her dagger-like blood-red nails, “insisted on taking a picture with me. His watch caught on my necklace and broke the clasp. He convinced me to put it in my room safe, and now it’s gone!” she wailed, her pitch hitting Mariah Carey level and bouncing off the marble pillars, drawing stares from people nearby.

“Let’s retrace your steps,” I said soothingly and followed her and Elliot back to the Presidential Suite on the sixth floor.

“Why’d you want a picture with her?” I whispered to Elliot.

“That’s Ophelia Renworth from the second season of Real Housewives of Nantucket!”

I shrugged—the name meant nothing to me.

When we entered the room, clothes lay scattered everywhere, empty wine glasses littered every available hard surface, and a swarm of gnats dive-bombed us as we walked over to the closet where the safe stood open.

“See?” She gestured to the empty safe.

Uh oh. My gut clenched; if I didn’t find the necklace, Elliot’s job was on the line.

After an intense search of her room, I came up empty-handed.

“Does anyone else have a key to your room?”

She shook her head. “No, but I can’t find my extra one anywhere. I was sure I set it on the entryway table, but it’s gone.”

Elliot and I shared a look, my eyes narrowing as an idea came to me.

“What’s wrong with your face? It’s twitching like a broken robot,” Elliot observed.

“Hmph.” His snarky tone irked me, and I stuck my tongue out at him.

He just raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to spill.

“Time to set a trap,” I announced.

WAIKOLOA WARFARE – A “Summer Jenkins ” Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: December 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Summer Jenkins is broke, burned out, and one whistle-blow away from quitting her lifeguard gig for good. So when her dad offers her a part-time job at his PI firm, she figures why not? If she can survive lifeguarding at one of Hawaii’s poshest beaches and the demanding clientele there, she can handle working a few hours a week with her slightly pushy but lovable dad.

Then her nosy neighbor turns up dead and Summer becomes the prime suspect.

Now she’s suspended, scandalized, and seriously ticked off.

But with a crooked police chief breathing down her neck and a killer still on the loose, things are about to get way more complicated than sunscreen and whistle duty.

Summer teams up with her ride-or-die bestie Lani to crack the case before she ends up in jail—or worse, six feet under.

Armed with sass, sunscreen, and zero chill, Summer’s diving headfirst into a murder mystery that’s got more twists than a luau conga line. But when the killer starts closing in, she’ll need more than beachside instincts to survive.

About the author
Christine Wellert is a writer, mother of 3 humans and several canines, wife to her high school sweetheart, Registered Nurse, and author of the cozy mystery series Barefoot Sleuth Cozy Mysteries. Christine splits her time between the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. When not chained to her keyboard, you can find her hiking, skiing, scuba diving, or traveling.