Footprints in the Sand by Mary Jane Clark

The explanation for her absence is determined when an elderly woman living near the resort witnesses a dark figure with a shovel carrying a heavy load into the dunes. Kathy is concerned because one of her employees, Shelley, a woman who has left the Amish tradition, has been missing for several days. Her cousin, Kathy, works as the assistant manager of a vacation resort located on the Gulf coast.

The novel opens with Piper arriving in Sarasota, Florida, with her parents to participate in the wedding of her cousin. Therefore, any cozy mystery will have little trouble being aired on general television. The violence generally lacks “blood, guts and gore.” Sexual relationships between the protagonist and other characters are generally non-existent or downplayed. The cast of characters, including the murderer, are generally segregated within a smaller community from the general populace. The murder generally “falls into their laps” and, for some reason, is motivated to investigate it. It generally involves a protagonist that is female and not employed in crime investigation or law enforcement. A cozy mystery is a subgenre of the mystery genre. This cozy mystery focuses on a soap opera actress, Piper Donovan. Could it be the wedding planner with something to hide? A doctor and his wife who collect unusual Japanese figurines? The best man, an ex-drug dealer with lecherous eyes and roving hands? What about her cousin's future stepfather or even the bridegroom himself? As Piper gets close to figuring out who's been covering his guilty footprints in the sand, the cunning killer has already set his sights on Piper as his next victim!' With the nuptials threatened, it falls to Piper to unmask a killer. Then a body is found on the wedding beach. Shortly after a bridesmaid mysteriously disappears, a kindly neighbor's car is run off the road and a prospective witness, an innocent Amish teenager, is threatened to keep silent. But a cloud seems to hover over the whole affair. Not only is Piper creating the sugar sand dollar-festooned wedding cake, she's also the maid of honor.

She and her family are there to celebrate her beloved cousin's wedding. It's the dead of winter and struggling actress and wedding cake decorator Piper Donovan is thrilled to be in warm and romantic Sarasota, Florida, enjoying the powdery white beaches, soothing seas, and golden sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico.

Footprints in the Sand by Mary Jane Clark