Failed Vacation, but Fun Case
2024 has turned into a year when I haven’t gotten to take many trips. It’s one reason why I love reading; thanks to books, I can virtually travel all over the world. I recently got to take such a trip to Bermuda in Death in St. George’s.
This is book three in the Intrepid Traveler Mysteries from M. A. Monnin. In the first book, we watched our main characters, Stefanie and Thomas, meet in Greece. At the time, Stefanie was on vacation but got swept up in the case of a stolen artifact, which is how she met Thomas, who is head of an Artifact Retrieval Team. Not only did they fall in love, but Stefanie started working for Thomas.
However, this book finds them on vacation – their first vacation as a couple. They are staying at the home of one of Stefanie’s former clients from her banking days. They are looking forward to a week of sun, water, and maybe talking about the future.
All that changes their first night when they are asked to look into a theft on the island. A recent discovery on the island has led to a mini dig, but a bracelet the archeological team uncovered was stolen. The pool of suspects is limited, and the archeologists on the team fear the theft will ruin their reputation. Thomas wants nothing to do with it, but Stefanie talks him into just one day working undercover to see what they can figure out. Things get complicated, however, when someone dies. As the pair get further pulled into the case, can they figure out what is going on?
The book starts out well. I was hooked on the mystery and was anxious to see how things would unfold. Unfortunately, the pace wound up being a bit uneven thanks to theorizing. Stefanie and Thomas spent a lot of time discussing what might be going on, in between each twist. Don’t get me wrong, some of that is good, but it got excessive here. Still, we do build to a logical climax, and I appreciated the skillful way the mystery had been put together when I reached the final page.
Stefanie and Thomas are the only two returning characters, but that’s okay. I love spending time with them, and that was the case again here. A sub-plot in their personal relationship did make me roll my eyes a little, but it was a very minor issue.
That means we get plenty of new characters here, who also serve as our suspects. We meet most of them at once, but it isn’t long before we get to know them better and they start to become more fleshed out.
And yes, we do get to travel a little. I’ve got a couple of items on my to do list now if I ever do get to visit Bermuda in real life.
Overall, I did enjoy Death in St. George’s. Pack your bags for this trip filled with mystery.
It's too bad about the pacing. The plot sounds good.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read this series. It sounds good.
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