Fatal Break by Beth Prentice is the 15th book in the “Aloha Lagoon” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing, coming August 20, 2019.
Samantha Reynolds’ life in Aloha Lagoon feels like it’s finally smooth sailing. She’s settled into her job as the resorts’ surf instructor for children, things are looking good with her boyfriend Casey, and she has an amazing BFF in the local surf shop owner, Alani.
But when a storm hits Aloha Lagoon, Alani’s past comes back to haunt her, and Sam finds her bestie standing over the dead body of her wayward ex-boyfriend. While Sam knows Alani is innocent, the local police aren’t so easily convinced, and Sam realizes it’s up to her to clear Alani’s name and find the real killer before her friend ends up behind bars. Why was Alani’s ex back in town? What was he doing in Alani’s shop after hours? And who is the mysterious raven-haired woman in his life and what does she have to do with it all? Sam is determined to find out. . .only can she do it before the real killer catches her? Or will Sam’s time in Aloha Lagoon come to a sticky end?
This is another fun read in one of my favorite series. This fast-paced and action-packed whodunit quickly grabbed my attention. The author knows how to tell a story with a solid mystery, believable characters and a setting to die for. Who wanted Nathan dead? Was it an ex-girlfriend? The ex-boss? Or someone else? It’s these suspects that created an interesting read as we learned of their motives and it was fun watching it all play out.
The mystery was nicely done, keeping me intrigued throughout and when I thought I had a handle on the killer’s identity, the author changed direction, all to enhance my reading pleasure. The narrative was visually descriptive with engaging dialogue and a feel-good mood as the words written created an image that had me immersed in all that was happening from beginning to an ending that had me rushing through the pages as I had to know the outcome. All in all, this was very enjoyable and one of the best in the series and I can’t wait to see what adventures await Sam and her friends.
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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the author.