When the residents of Tybee Island are rocked by the suspicious death of a local man, it will be up to a husband-and-wife pair of sleuths to crack the case and restore peace to paradise

If Belinda Carlisle is right and heaven really is a place on Earth, it exists just off coast of Georgia. Tybee Island is a sleepy Southern town of entrepreneurs and eccentrics, a veritable paradise filled with oak lined streets and pastel colored, clapboard cottages. But when a detested local man turns up dead after a hurricane, the idyllic spot becomes the scene of a murder investigation with two of the island's most upstanding citizens at its center.

Having discovered the body, Amy Johnson begins her own investigation alongside her husband Marc, but as is the case in many a small island community, nothing is as it seems. And as the couple's interest in the case grows, they find themselves suspects in the Chatham County sheriff's investigation as well as targets for the real murderer, landing Marc in the hospital and both in jail. Can they piece together the mystery before the killer gets them?

The perfect beach read, How Despicable Joe Smith Met His Maker is a great addition to summertime reading lists for fans of cozy mysteries.