cover image Beach, Breeze, Bloodshed

Beach, Breeze, Bloodshed

John Keyse-Walker. Minotaur, $25.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-14847-6

Keyse-Walker’s entertaining sequel to 2016’s Sun, Sand, Murder begins when the remains of a young woman, evidently the victim of a shark attack, wash up on the Caribbean island of Virgin Gorda. Constable Teddy Creque takes on the task of killing the offending shark, whom onlookers on the beach have spotted. The beast is soon strung up on a dock, where Teddy slits its belly, which contains more body parts. Teddy and other police officials set out to find anyone who might be able to identify the woman. Teddy has an amusing encounter with attractive Jeanne Trengrouse and her scarlet macaw, Sir Winston Churchill, who repeats the suspicious words (e.g., “de fuzz”) of his less-than-law-abiding previous owners. Jeanne’s shy eight-year-old son puts Teddy on a trail that leads him to suspect that the woman—eventually identified as Michele Konnerth, a cancer researcher at Duke University who came to Virgin Gorda as part of her work—was the victim of a crime. Keyse-Walker effortlessly conveys the balmy charm of island life. Agent: Danielle Burby, Nelson Literary Agency. (Sept.)