The Last Resort- April Star

The Last Resort
April Star
Five Star, Jun 2009, $25.95
ISBN: 159414768X

David and Laura Jennings are on their “rv’ing” honeymoon which seems appropriate as they met, fell in love, and solved a murder case at the Big Pine Key RV Resort run by her (see TROPICAL WARNINGS). They stop at Harbor Lights RV Park on Anastasia Island in St. Augustine. There they romantically walk the beach only to find a bottle washed ashore; instead of a message inside they find odd colored sand.

They soon learn the former manager Patricia Marsh recently was murdered by someone who set her body aflame on the beach. Her daughter Gracie found the corpse. Being a private investigator David cannot stop himself from making inquiries while Laura, having obtained a taste for investigation, joins him. They meet and team up with another couple staying at the park; Katie and Jeremy as he is a retired NYC forensic anthropologist who finds out the bottle content is Patricia's burned bone pieces. The prime suspects are Patricia’s husbands, abusive Ken Schaffer and her younger second spouse Cory Marsh but finding out which one proves impossible for reasons the sleuths have not yet uncovered.

The whodunit is terrific as is the insider’s look at an RV park, which brings out a horde of differing characters who enhance the investigation. The story line is fast-paced and fun to follow, but fans will want the lead couple to move past the overly honeyed honeymoon stage. THE LAST RESORT is an enjoyable mystery with a wonderful late twist.

Harriet Klausner