Plum Yacht to Catch Another Killer
Three years ago, I started Carrie Doyle’s Trouble in Paradise! series. While I struggled with that first book, I decided to give it another try, and I found myself enjoying the second one more. So I dove into The Girl with the Dragonfruit Tattoo, the third book in the series.
The series features New York City transplant Plum Lockhart. When her magazine career folded, she wound up moving to the tropical island of Paraiso, where she is starting a vacation rental business and solving the occasional murder. This is a mystery series, after all.
This book finds her reuniting with a friend she hasn’t seen in years. The friend is traveling with a group on an expensive yacht, and Plum finds herself on board one night catching up. But a couple of days later, one of the servants from the yacht is dead and the police are making an unusual request. Will Plum use her new connections to go on the yacht and investigate the death? Plum agrees just as the yacht takes off for their next destination. But with everyone seeming to have a motive, can she find the killer?
Yes, I know the premise would only happen in a cozy mystery. Although, if you’ve read the two earlier books, you’d know it makes a bit of sense that the police would admit they need help. Anyway, it’s a cozy mystery, so I just go along with it.
My issue with the first book was Plum herself, who wasn’t exactly likeable. Fortunately, she’s mellowed out, and I really enjoyed my time with her. The new characters are strong, and I didn’t have any issues keeping them all straight. And we do see enough of the other regulars to get some updates on them.
However, that caused some pacing issues near the beginning as we had to have all those scenes before Plum got on the yacht. Yes, we were getting some scenes setting up potential motives, but it still felt a little slow. Once we got on board, things really picked up, and I was hooked. There were plenty of motives to keep us guessing. The ending was a bit less than it could have been, but it did answer all my questions.
This book came out three years ago, and it appears to be the end of the series. Sadly. I enjoyed the characters and setting, so I would have gladly gone back. But fans will be satisfied with where the characters end up.
If you need a tropical get away, give this series a chance. You’ll find The Girl with the Dragonfruit Tattoo a nice wrap up to the three-book series.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.