Something Fishy This Way Comes

June 1, 2022

Whitney Dagner, owner of a gift shop on Catalina Island, is hiding a treasure chest on the golf course for a customer when she finds two men arguing over a dead body at the designated spot. It appears Leo Franklin was run over by a golf cart, but when Jake Ahern, the park ranger, calls his relatives instead of the cops, the Aherns all insist Leo committed suicide. After Whitney reports the death, the actual police show up. Only then does she learn the confusing story about a long-running feud between the Aherns and the Franklins, a feud revived when Leo courted an Ahern relative. Although Whitney does not consider herself an amateur sleuth, even Whitney's own grandparents expect her to find Leo's killer because the police chief sides with the Aherns in claiming it's suicide. Together with her best friend and her boyfriend, a police diver, Whitney digs into past island history to find the roots of the feud and the murder. VERDICT The follow-up to Much Ado About Nauticaling is another humorous cozy mystery with an emphasis on island lifestyle and attractions. The eccentric characters will appeal to fans of Bree Baker's "Seaside Caf�" mysteries.--Lesa Holstine

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June 1, 2022
A feud worthy of the Hatfields and the McCoys roils peaceful Santa Catalina Island. Whitney Dagner, returning from the mainland for a quiet life and the company of her brother and her grandparents, rents a house with her best friend, Maribel Hernandez, who works for the police along with Whitney's boyfriend, diving expert Felix Ramirez. Even though she grew up on the island, Whitney was never aware of the long-running feud between the Franklins and the Aherns. When Leo Franklin is found dead on the golf course with members of both families on hand, the sheriff, a stalwart Ahern, calls his death a suicide, though his deputy's willing to consider other avenues suggested to Whitney by the tracks of a golf cart on Leo's body. Although her grandparents are supposed to be retired, her grandmother Goldy, who's come up with a great idea for Whitney's gift shop, encourages Whitney to investigate while Goldy runs the store. Since no one seems to know just what started the feud, Whitney must do a lot of research at the local newspaper office and ask a lot of nosy questions. Leo's possible involvement in a Romeo and Juliet romance with an Ahern would certainly have provided a motive for murder. As Whitney soon discovers, however, there are plenty of other possibilities, and it's up to her to find which of them is behind Leo's death. The same stunning background and intriguing characters as Allan's debut and a much stronger mystery.

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