Just as travel agent turned reluctant sleuth Gabby LeClaire is starting to gain some of the Aloha spirit, a business consortium from Chicago breezes into the Aloha Lagoon resort and offers to buy her business. The offer is tempting…but so is hot helicopter pilot Rick Dawson, making it a difficult decision. One that becomes even more complicated when a dead body is discovered in Gabby’s … backyard, and she’s suddenly thrust in the middle of a murder investigation! The dead man is a former beachboy attendant from the island. But as Gabby and her friends quickly learn, his colorful past as a professional escort extends from Hawaii all the way to the women of Chicago¿including those in the business consortium. With a trail of broken hearts¿not to mention jealous rivals¿leading up to the beachboy, Gabby tried to uncover just who had it in for the late lothario. Is the female of the species really more deadly than the male? Or has he scorned one too many women for some other man’s liking? Gabby treads a fine line as she seeks the truth behind his shady past and comes face to face with a killer!
more
The perfect summer beach read!
“Beachboy Murders” earns 5/5 Tropical Troubles…Terrific!
Gabby LeClair is excited to have her mentor/friend from Chicago, coming to the resort, and with her she brings some potential buyers of Gabby’s travel agency. Selling? No, not after she’s made a home for herself, but it doesn’t hurt to listen, right? Also arriving at the resort is a hired “plus one” with a dubious reputation. Not a stranger to the Islands, he had lived, worked, loved, and left a few broken hearts in his wake. So, when he is found dead in Gabby’s backyard, we find secrets revealed, motives abound, and suspects too close to home. Gabby puts on her amateur detective hat to find jealousies, greed, and a bit of personal peril. Another day in paradise!
Excellent! Despite being two years since we first enjoyed Gabby and the “Murder on the Aloha Express,” which made me an immediate fan of Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens’ work, this new adventure was well worth the wait. The signature clever twist and turns, dead ends and misdirection made me think I had it figured out, but was hit with a couple of “Oh, wow-s!” to make it very exciting. Background and character connections are revisited, so no one is left confused. The mystery was well organized, realistically unfolding clues, and leading to another exciting island chase with a scare or two concerning who would survive. Gabby is a delightful character easily identified with as she finds comfort in her ‘island girl’ personae and embrace the ‘aloha’ way leaving the past hurts behind and embrace her ‘helicopter hunk.’ The other characters are fun, quirky, and all the epitome of family. On the side, I continued to enjoy reminiscing about my own visits to the “Garden Isle” and efforts to be an ‘island girl.” And to make everyone feel the “aloha,” they have added a bit on the Hawaiian Language—a crash course on how to put together all those syllables. Mahalo, Sally and Jean!
I’m a huge fan of Sally’s & Jean’s work, and this latest romp through Aloha Lagoon is no exception. It features some fun, familiar faces and a few new ones as well. The mystery is well done, and there’s a great balance of intrigue, action, romance, and humor. And did I mention that it’s set in gorgeous Hawaii? If that doesn’t scream “Perfect Beach Read”, I don’t know what does!
I love this book. It’s a fun, tropical adventure with warm characters that feel like family and friends. This is a new series for me, so I can attest that it works as a stand-alone, but I definitely want to go back and read more about Aloha Lagoon. I don’t usually pick up cozy mysteries, but this was so enjoyable I will consider myself a fan!
Gabby LeClaire hosts friends from the mainland that are considering the purchase of her travel agency. And along comes a murder. Who is involved? Is it the islanders, the newcomers, and what does her “flyboy” Rick think of Gabby’s potential sale? I loved every page, and the story unfolded at just the right pace. I loved Janet and Ace and the entire secondary cast.
I was fortunate to get an ARC copy of this book for my honest review.
If you love a good cozy, this book is definitely for you. This is just one of the wonderful books in the Aloha Lagoon series and it works just fine as a standalone. I have not read all of them but I can tell you these books are easy to just pick up and start reading and regardless of which one you elect to start with, you will fall right into the story. Beachboy Murder has everything you would hope for: Well developed characters, those you easily love to love and a couple (or more) that you just love to hate. And, there is even opportunity for some of them to redeem themselves as the story progresses. Tons of twists and turns, a little bit of romance and of course your corpse that turns up in a most questionable place. Quirky characters that just “fit” in this fun, fast paced story that will hook you on the series immediately! If you don’t know where to start, this is the perfect place! If you can’t go to Hawaii, get your fix of Aloha here at the Aloha Lagoon resort, with Gabby the travel agent/amateur sleuth, and the unpredictable mess in which she finds herself entangled.
One of the first things I’ll say about this book is the authors were most certainly good at describing a setting. This book is not full of descriptions of the island of Hawaii. Most of the talk is about island breezes and sweet scents of flowers but it was so good, they sure had me sitting at a beautiful outdoor bar with fruit in my drink and flowers around my neck. At least in my mind they did. This is a fun story with likable characters. Just a really good feel in your heart kind of book. It has your good guys and your bad guys; your wild chases and your cop that’s always mad at the amateur sleuth for butting in. That amateur sleuth is named Gabby this time and she and her flyboy guy and her other friends are those likable, well-defined friends I mentioned.
Almost every book in this series is written by a different author. That’s something I might question about the flow or constancy of the storyline. However, every book has good ratings so obviously that has not been a feeling of future readers.
This is Book 11 in the series titled “Aloha Lagoon Mysteries”. While this can definitely be a stand-alone read, it sure might be worth checking out Book 1 thru 10 too.
***This book was provided to me free of charge for an honest review.
I really enjoyed Beachboy Murder. I am thinking this may be the best story in Aloha Lagoon! It works perfectly as a standalone, but I really enjoyed finding out that Detective Ray may have a heart. One of the minor characters gets a chance to be a hero. Gabby and Rick’s love story progresses nicely. Of course there is a murder to solve. There were several twists before everything was sorted out. I read it straight through. I highly recommend this book whether or not you have read any other book in the series.
To steal a line, “there are to many characters in this drama”. I will admit that I did not read every book in this series. I found the authors I liked and just read their books (I did try the others, they just didn’t grab me). What I did read was terrific and exactly the laugh and action I needed right now. It’s also not to bad to read about tropical weather while being up to your butt in snow.