It's July. Beautiful summer weather and time off from school should mean a relaxed vacation for Jason Hunter. Instead he finds his future filled with uncertainty. Jason has been told by nearly everyone he knows, including Daniel, his best friend and detective partner, that he needs to take time off from any detective work after the brutal attack he and his steady girlfriend Laura experienced a few months earlier. Jason has recovered physically from his injuries, but finds himself completely isolated from Laura. Laura's parents have taken her on an extended European vacation. As a result Laura completely missed Daniel's six-city band tour in June. The only communication from her Jason has received in that entire time was a letter and a postcard with no return address. Jason is beginning to have serious doubts that they are still a couple.
Jason's friend Cody has taken it upon himself to help Jason out. He has invited Jason to spend the month of July with him in Malibu. Part of his therapy for Jason is to get Jason away from his Silicon Valley scene and teach him how to surf. Cody is a good teacher and his plan for Jason begins to work. Then a second letter arrives from Laura casually mentioning some of the boys she has met in Europe. Jason decides that maybe he should start meeting other girls, but is still conflicted inside. One day while touring in nearby Oxnard, Cody and Jason discover that a local beach has been closed due to toxic pollution discovered in the water and meet a fellow surfer burned by the pollution. Infuriated, Cody joins a local stream team to monitor the nearby Calleguas Creek, the source of the pollution, and to help search for the polluters. Soon he talks Jason into acting as an armchair detective to help him figure out how the polluting was accomplished.
Back in the Silicon Valley, Daniel and his band have taken some well deserved time off after their tour, but soon are wanting to get back into the studio to create new tracks for their second CD. Although the band is unified in the direction that they want to take, their record company has other ideas about what they should be doing. Their summer is further complicated when a large amount of their band equipment is stolen after a performance at a private party. Without Jason around, Daniel must take the lead in trying to discover who was responsible for the theft.
At the end of July, Daniel, Eric, and Diana drive down to Malibu to visit Jason and Cody, but when they arrive, they discover that both of their friends have gone missing that morning! Now the pressure is on Daniel to figure out what happened to Jason and Cody before it is too late.
Troubled Waters is the eighth book in the Hunter & Holmes mystery series. The lazy days of summer suddenly turn into an action filled adventure for Jason, Daniel, and Cody.
