Tilt a whirl / Chris Grabenstein.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

There isn't much sun in the fun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt-A-Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet summer tourist town of Sea Haven. John Ceepak, a former MP just back from Iraq, has just joined the Sea Haven police department. The job offer came from an old army buddy who hoped to give Ceepak at least a summer's worth of rest and relaxation to help him forget the horrors of war. Instead, Ceepak will head up the murder investigation. He is partnered with Danny Boyle, a 24-year-old, part-time summer cop who doesn't carry a gun and only works with the police by day so he has enough pocket money left over to play with his beach buddies by night. In the first novel in a new series written in the spirit of Carl Hiaasen's work, the Tilt-A-Whirl murder pushes Ceepak's deep sense of honor and integrity to the limits as unexpected twists and turns keep the truth spinning wildly in every direction.

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Library Journal Review

Danny thought spending the season as a summer cop in the quiet tourist town of Sea Haven would be a great way to make a little beer money and meet some beach bunnies. But when a billionaire developer is found dead on the Tilt-a-Whirl and his blood-covered daughter runs right into Danny, he must confront the sordid side of Sea Haven head-on. Luckily, Danny has the help of his partner John Ceepak, an Iraqi war veteran whose personal code of honor and stiff morality hides a shrewd analytical mind. VERDICT Grabenstein's Anthony Award-winning debut is a gripping mystery that is like any unforgettable vacation-nice weather, unexpected twists, and colorful characters you'll want to revisit many times. [For the author's ebook edition go to ----chrisgrabenstein.com/adults/tilt.php.-Ed.] (LJ 9/15/05) (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

An unusual setting (Sea Haven, a summer resort in an unnamed state that sounds a lot like New Jersey) and two police protagonists with contrasting personalities lift Grabenstein's debut mystery. A former military policeman in Iraq, John Ceepak has brought his considerable physical strength, crime-solving skills and morality to the beachside town; "a cop 24/7," he spends his spare time reading about forensics and watching true-crime shows on TV. Assisting Ceepak is 24-year-old Danny Boyle, a part-time summer cop who joined the force largely to impress college girls. The only thing they have in common is a love for Bruce Springsteen. But the murder of a Trump-like real estate magnate, knifed to death while meeting his young daughter at the town's sleazy amusement park, brings the unlikely pair of police officers closer together. Boyle's first-person narration can occasionally sound too cute for comfort, but his increasing respect for police work in general and Ceepak's combination of abilities in particular provide a good deal of the book's satisfaction. Agent, Eric Myers. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

From page 1, this debut stands out as refreshingly different. Billed as the first entry in Grabenstein's Jersey Shore series, the story is set in Sea Haven, a town that will stir memories for East Coasters who went down the Shore each summer. The story centers on the murder of real-estate tycoon Reggie Hart, who was shot in front of his teenage daughter, Ashley. Danny Boyle, a 24-year-old summer cop, encounters the hysterical girl while on patrol with his partner, John Ceepak, an ex-soldier who has returned from Iraq with some demons left to exorcise. Although Grabenstein crafts a first-rate mystery, what makes this novel special is its two protagonists. With young Boyle narrating, the reader gets to know Ceepak gradually, through his partner's eyes. At first Ceepak's personal code of honor only amuses or annoys the cynical Boyle. But as he (and we) get to know the former soldier, the portrait of a true hero emerges. Grabenstein brilliantly evokes the endearing seediness of a Jersey Shore town in summer, but it's his development of the Ceepak-Boyle relationship that makes this an absolute triumph. --Jenny McLarin Copyright 2005 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Fireworks down by the shore, and in the amusement park, a good cop almost gets taken for a ride. Just back from Iraq where he served as an MP, and where he experienced enough war horrors to corrode the souls of most, John Ceepak somehow manages to remain surprisingly level-headed. Still, a change would be beneficial, argues old friend and comrade-in-arms Chief Cosgrove of the Sea Haven PD. He hires Ceepak, supplies him with a 24-year-old part-timer, wide-eyed Danny Boyle, as a partner, and for a time things are tranquil in sunny Sea Haven. A 12-year-old girl changes everything. Blood-spattered and distraught, she emerges suddenly from Sea Haven's tiny amusement park, screaming, "He killed my father." When Ashley Hart's father turns out to be Reginald Hart, billionaire, tranquility takes a holiday. Placed by default in charge of the high profile investigation (Sea Haven PD not being rich in homicide experience), Ceepak appears at first to be in over his head, easily misled, sent careening down one unproductive garden path after another to the consternation of young Danny, primed for hero worship. But in a complex case in which almost nothing is what it seems, one thing is: Ceepak's intelligent, principled, get-the-job-done steadiness. This first book in a promising series flounders here and there but is ultimately saved by the strength of Grabenstein's protagonist. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.