When Izzy Brown, an anxiety-ridden sixteen-year-old, receives a scholarship to the prestigious Bardo Academy, she leaves the trailer park for a seaside villa in Florida's most exclusive and secretive community. With a new address, new school, and cute new boyfriend, life is good-for once. But then dreams of becoming a journalist prompt Izzy to join the school newspaper. With the help of Elton Jones-Davies, a gentle giant with autism and secrets of his own, she delves into the murder of a former Bardo Academy football star. Together, Izzy and Elton uncover forbidden romance, shady business deals, and political corruption reaching the State Capitol. The case heats up just as Izzy's life falls apart, but she presses on, risking everything to bring the killer to justice. Set in 2008, at the precipice of the housing market crash and the height of Florida's prescription opioid epidemic, Bardo by the Sea is Book 1 of the Izzy and Elton Mystery Series.