Brief Mention: A "Trouble in Paradise" Mystery from Carrie Doyle, IT TAKE TWO TO MANGO

After reading Carrie Doyle's traditionally cozy country inn mysteries set in the Hamptons, IT TAKES TWO TO MANGO comes as a huge surprise -- because Plum Lockhart, thrust unexpectedly into a real estate job on a tropical island, is such an incredibly unlikeable character!

Reasons for her attitudes and behavior are quickly provided (her isolated childhood, rejection by her parents, etc.), but honestly, even Plum sometimes realizes she's never going to enjoy life or friendships, even in Paraiso. And what she's known as a scrappy New York magazine journalist isn't working for her.

Plum  quickly learned that having a fit or creating scene was not a successful approach to getting things done in Paraiso. An event like a crushed golf cart drew an enormous amount of resort personnel to stand and evaluate the scene and discuss endlessly what should be done before no one did anything. Things happened when they happened. And when Plum tried to hasten their reactions, she was met with the requisite "tranquilo."

A murder of one of her villa clients threatens Plum's employment, the security staffer she'd like to attract seems to see her emotional issues way too clearly, and her stylish New York City clothes are not suited to the humid warmth of the locale. Doyle's handling of the sea change that Plum needs in her life and her soul feels in a strange way like a grown-up recap of how an angry kid gets isolated in a school move. Some island type-casting also stings.

Yet Plum is so very injured in her temperamental behaviors that the book chapters are almost irresistible—so the suspense is not so much who killed the visitor, as ... how on earth will Plum adapt, and can she possibly do it before she has to turn tail and return to the city?

For light distraction and a chance to argue with the author in your thoughts, pick up this Poisoned Pen Press offering (first in a series) and tuck it into the beach bag. (Release date June 29.)

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

A Library Journal Pick: A FRONT PAGE AFFAIR, Radha Vatsal

Debut author Radha Vatsal draws from her own vivid experiences of immigration from Mumbai, India, and her PhD work at Duke University, to create a new historical mystery series, with Kitty Weeks as her amateur sleuth. The first title came out this summer and I was delighted that publisher Sourcebooks drew my attention to A FRONT PAGE AFFAIR. Ignore the cover, which to my eye looks like Julie Andrews playing Mary Poppins in downtown 1915 Manhattan. Jump into the story instead -- of a "Ladies Page" society reporter, young and scrappy Capability "Kitty" Weeks, trying to prove herself to both her newspaper employer and her rather distant father. And over it all, the shadow of what will soon be World War I.

Kitty's first major newspaper assignment to a garden party with the cream of Society turns dark when she calls in a murder to the City Desk, instead of the sweet story of fireworks and picnic that her bosses expected. Her efforts to balance three directions at once -- the Ladies Page, the chance to assist with the news of the murder, and keeping house for her demanding father -- capsize quickly. Little wonder that she's managed to ignore so far the rise of world events that will soon engage all Americans after the sinking of the ship Lusitania:

"I find it all so confusing," Kitty said. "Is the president trying to say that we deserve to be unharmed because we're neutral?"

"That's correct." [Her father] Julian Weeks looked Kitty in the eye. "But there's a war going on, Capability. And the simple fact of the matter is that even neutrals aren't innocent."

Soon Kitty's wondering whether her father had deeper, more dangerous things in mind when he said that -- what is his past, which he's never discussed with her? Who is he meeting with in such secrecy? Why is her father's business apparently crossing paths with the criminals who infiltrate high society?

Vatsal's writing is deft, vivid, and well paced; the discussion at the end of the book, in which she reveals her own journey, adds much extra interest. I'll be watching for more of this series -- and meanwhile, A FRONT PAGE AFFAIR took the title "Debut Mystery of the Month" from Library Journal earlier this year. Nice!

Reading a "First Book" by an Established Author: THE COLD DISH, Craig Johnson

I review a lot of "first books" by mystery and thriller authors, and usually I mention this either by saying (1) it's got some small flaws (like most first books) but it's so good that I want to read the next one or (2) this is so good that the author must have written some other books first (that maybe didn't get to publication) -- incredibly good with no sign of being a first book!

Last week I took time away from the incoming stacks to read Craig Johnson's first, which is also the first Walt Longmire mystery, set in northern Wyoming -- it dates back to December 2004, but just became widely known because a TV network turned Johnson's series into the rave-reviewed LONGMIRE series (incomprehesively canceled recently in someone's short-sighted business decision, but so good that it's sure to rise again).

I enjoyed every page. I didn't skim any of it. And it definitely did not feel like a first book (but hold that thought).

All the heart-ache elements of Walt Longmire ring true: his understandable alcohol problem (his wife died unexpectedly, he's living in the unfinished house that was going to be their home together, his job has a certain built-in instability); his deep friendship across ethnic boundaries with Henry Laughing Bear, cemented by the war experiences they have in common; his wordless longing for comfort that become obvious when a woman looks at him kindly, but on which he's powerless to act. The plot elements and twists are polished and smooth; the tension and pace -- as Longmire tries to figure out who is taking revenge on a group of casual and ugly-hearted rapists -- steadily ramp upward, and an intense early-season snowstorm and a set of powerful firearms in the wrong hands drive the threat to page-turner level.

In fact, the only thing that bothered me was, when Longmire finally figured out the killer, he was still struggling with the motive, even when he knew who it must have been. I didn't feel like I'd had enough hints along the way to be able to urge him to the right conclusion (haven't you done that as you've seen what the sleuth has overlooked?). And when I mentioned this to Dave, who has read ALL of the 11 books Johnson's provided, Dave tipped his head to the side and commented mildly, "Well, it is his first book, you know."

Yes, it is. Thank goodness there's that tiny, tiny weak spot, where I can reassure myself, "This author wasn't born into the life of mystery writing with all connections already at professional level."

But so close, so close. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of Johnson's Longmire series.

PS: The title, in case you haven't guessed, is from the translated French expression, "Revenge is a dish best served cold." Pierre Ambroise François Cholderlos de la Clos.