Life has changed for Lani over the past eight months and in many ways she is still trying to get a feel for the new normal. The one thing in her life that seems to be going perfectly is her partnership with her father, a retired homicide detective. Pope Investigations has become Lani’s solace during a time when her life is otherwise in complete upheaval>Things get dicey when she finds a body … finds a body laid out across the entryway of Pope Investigations. When it looks as if the death of the local food truck owner might be related to the deaths of two other men, both who looked to have been left for Lani to find, she sets out to solve all three murders. Along the way she will reconnect with an old friend, say goodbye to another, and finally begin to understand the role of hope and hopelessness in her life.
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Murder At Pope Investigations
Sand And Sea Hawaiian Mystery, Book #8
Kathi Daley
5 Stars
Synopsis:
Life has changed for Lani over the past eight months and in many ways she is still trying to get a feel for the new normal. The one thing in her life that seems to be going perfectly is her partnership with her father, a retired homicide detective. Pope Investigations has become Lani’s solace during a time when her life is otherwise in complete upheaval>
Things get dicey when she finds a body laid out across the entryway of Pope Investigations. When it looks as if the death of the local food truck owner might be related to the deaths of two other men, both who looked to have been left for Lani to find, she sets out to solve all three murders. Along the way she will reconnect with an old friend, say goodbye to another, and finally begin to understand the role of hope and hopelessness in her life. (Goodreads)
Review:
It was good to get to spend some time with Lani and her cousin and friends. I felt like I was visiting with old friends, catching up with what has been going on in their lives. Circumstances have changed for Lani, both professionally and personally, and things did not always work out the way she planned. But that is real life and I thought this made the book seem more realistic.
As is usual for this author, there is more than one mystery to solve. In this case, there are three dead bodies and a missing person. Lani and her dad will have their work cut out for them. There were a lot of clues to sift through and suspects to consider, and when you throw in some twists and turns, the mysteries were not easily solved.
I would recommend this book, and series, to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. You cannot go wrong picking up any of this author’s books.
Although a “cozy” mystery should involve an “amateur sleuth,” and usually has some sort of theme as well as the crime aspect, I consider this a borderline cozy, leaning more into the full crime genre.
Lani Pope is the only daughter born into a cop family. She had hopes of finishing the police academy and becoming a “real” law enforcement officer, despite her diminutive frame. She ended up being a lifeguard at a Hawaiian resort, still managing to find crimes to solve, mainly murders.
Now that her father has retired from the police force, she has gone into business with him as a private detective. How is that working out for her?
In this book alone she is the person to discover three bodies, seemingly placed for her to find. What is the message and how is she the link between the victims?
Hard hitting and tied to topics in present day’s news, this book shows us that Lani is not going to let her size, gender or anything else stop her. Aided by a secret spy sort of surfing friend, with plenty secrets of his own, Lani is determined to solve this case while her father, who was injured on the job, recovers under the watchful eye of her mother.
The book also delves into the personal and relationship side of Lani’s life, as well as that of her cousin and roomates. Even if you believe you could have found your soulmate or happily ever after, life comes with no guarantees. Tough decisions must be made. Is there a way to discover silver linings to these clouds?
You can read this book as a stand alone. Another excellent series for fans of Kathi Daley and television shows such as Blue Bloods and Criminal Minds.
Lani Pope’s life has been turned upside down since her long time boyfriend has left Hawaii to help out his family’s cattle ranch in Texas. The only constant has been her job at Pope’s Investigation where she has partnered with her father. When a dead body is found laying across the front door of the office, Lani is unsure what the meaning of this is. This is the third body to be found by Lani in 20 days. When she and her father are hired to find a woman’s missing husband, it brings several concerns for Lani, one being kidnapped. As always Kathi Daley provides well developed characters and plots. As a reader of many books, I am fond of the various series Ms. Daley puts out.
Murder at Pope Investigations earns 5/5 Multiple Mayhem…Engaging Fun!
After the last murder investigation that caused Lani and her father to partner together, her dad decided retirement wasn’t for him. His proposal was to open a private detective agency and ask Lani to join him as his partner. Pope Investigations begins… Their new business venture and working together was doing quite well, but the dead body tucked inside the entryway doesn’t seem to be their ten o’clock client. Oddly this is the third body Lani has found: behind her condo, next to her life guard tower, and now in front of Pope Investigations. There appears to be no obvious connection between the victims or to Lani, but she senses something’s definitely wrong. She turns down her cop brother’s suggestion for protective custody and takes on a missing husband case to occupy her thoughts…but interesting connections start to appear along with a bit of personal trouble…just another day in paradise!
Aloooha! Kathi Daley has penned a clever and intriguing story for this eighth book in her Sand and: multiple murders, a missing husband, curious connections, and personal peril concluding with a clever ending. Using a first-person narrative from Lani’s perspective we enter her inner thoughts, it is entertaining with vivid descriptions and dialogue that does well to illustrate the tone and personalities. Along with the story, the characters are the hit. Lani struggles with her personal life with questions about her relationship with Luke, her friends from the resort want her continued attention, and the mysterious Shredder reappears. Lani’s change of occupation gets her closer to the investigative work she hoped to make a career, and again she’s very good at it. The dynamic between Lani and her father is endearing and quite the change with the father’s continued realization his daughter is quite the capable detective. Kathi Daley once again offers an entertaining murder mystery, but it’s her characters and their connections that make her work popular.
Murder at Pope Investigations is book eight in the Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery series. Lani’s life is never boring, and I am always glad to immerse myself in another one of her stories. These hook you from the start, and the entire series is definitely worth reading.
In this eighth book of the series Lani has made a big change to her life. Since she can’t be a cop she is doing the next best thing, private investigation. After working with her father on a previous case they decided to open up their own Private Investigation firm and things are going well. They are getting steady business and Lani is excited about her future as a P.I. When Lani finds three different bodies, each a week apart, she wonders why her? Looking into each of the men she can’t find any clues into how they knew each other and how she may have known them. With no connecting dots she realizes that she must dig deeper into each of the their lives. Meanwhile her father has asked her to help look into a missing persons case. The wife of a pilot hasn’t seen her husband in days and she is worried that something bad has happened to him. Lani’s friend and sometimes neighbor Shredder suddenly appears after being gone for quite a few months and they both seem to be looking at the same people. The get a clue and follow it only to find out that there cases indeed intersect. Follow along as these two try to not only solve the cases of the dead men that Lani has recently found but also the case of the missing pilot. The men that are involved are deadly and not easily taken, will the two be able to find the evidence they need to bring their cases to a harmonious conclusion. I loved the switch up that the main character has made in her life by changing careers and look forward to seeing what happens next.
Great story with a well thought out plot and some really interesting characters that I have come to love makes this cozy mystery one I highly recommend reading. The author will keep you guessing with her many twists and turns. I also love learning more about the characters and what is going on in their lives as this is book 8 of a series (all can be stand alone but if you are like me you will want to read them all). Also loved being reintroduced to one of my favorite characters that has pop up in several of her books.
Murder at Pope Investigations is the eighth episode in the Sand and Sea Cozy Mystery series. Kathi Daley writes yet another great installment in this cozy mystery series, filled with some of the elements of a cozy mystery including suspense, drama, love, friendship, and family.
Kailani (Lani) Pope, a private investigator and part-time water safety officer for the Dolphin Bay Resort on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, finds a dead body just inside the front door of her detective agency, Pope Investigations. It is the third dead body she has found this month. The bodies seem to be left for her in places she frequently goes. She is also working on a missing person’s case that may or may not be connected. With the help of family and friends, Lani works to uncover the identity of the killer(s) and the role others are playing in various related crimes.
Ms. Daley’s writing flows smoothly, and her setting and relatable characters make for an extremely enjoyable and quick read. I could hardly put the book down once I started it. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
Murder At Pope Investigations ( Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery #8 )
By: Kathi Daley
Murder at Pope Investigations is book eight in the series Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery. Lani’s life is changing. She and her father went in together and opened a P.I. Agency. It seems that everywhere Lani goes she is finding a dead body ,and missing people. Are they all related? There are lots of suspects and she has her hands full . This is a fast paced cozy mystery that will have you turning the pages to see what happens next. The author keeps you guessing till the end.
Three Bodies in Twenty Days
Murder at Pope Investigations is the eighth book in Kathi Daley’s (Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery series. The affable characters are well developed, and the storyline is well plotted with an intriguing and complex mystery. There is no shortage of victims or twists and turns, and red herrings are sprinkled throughout this well-paced book to keep the reader engaged and guessing. The reveal came as a surprise to me. I highly recommend this fast-paced book for all readers who enjoy a good mystery.
Lani Pope lives on the island of Oahu, and until recently, she worked full-time as a water safety officer at the Dolphin Bay Resort. Lani has a great relationship with her family and loves her friends, who she considers her adopted family, at the condominium complex where she lives with Sandy, her lab mix dog, and her best friend and cousin, Kekoa. Her dream has always been to follow in her father and five brothers’ footsteps and become a police officer. After her second oldest brother, Jason, who is a detective for the Honolulu Police Department, was shot, her other brothers teamed up to investigate but shut Lani and their dad out of their investigation. After Lani and her dad, Keanu, joined forces and started their own investigation, they realized they work well together and opened a detective agency, Pope Investigations. Lani’s boyfriend, Luke Austin, is still in Texas, working on his family’s cattle ranch and helping his mom cope with the death of his dad. When Lani shows up for work one morning, she finds a man’s body just inside the front door, and while that’s disturbing, what really concerns her is that it’s the third body she’s discovered in the last twenty days. All three victims were males who were shot and left in locations where Lani was known to frequent, and Jason and Keanu agree with her that it appears the bodies were left for her to find. As they delve into the victims’ pasts trying to find a link that ties the men to each other and to Lani, they make some startling discoveries.