Even though this is part of a mystery series it's not really a mystery. It's the prequel to the series, explaining why the protagonist Cassandra Sato left Hawai'i for Nebraska (i.e. in academia you can't often chose where you live because jobs are few and in between).

Cassandra wants to move up the administrative ladder and has been wondering what her next step is. Meanwhile at her university there is a tsunami watch that becomes a warning but no one above her will listen to her about the dangers. The whole plot is really in the blurb. As Dean of Students she has to get the students to safety but for some reason a group of them won't leave the dorms and she has to figure out why (that's the 'mystery').

It's a straight forward short story that I have to wonder was originally written as a newsletter freebie or something because there isn't much to it. It's okay but I'm not sure it gives much insight into the character and I didn't feel particularly interested. It doesn't really play that much of a role into why she leaves home except the last paragraph (i.e. plum job offer).