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DEATH DANCES TO A REGGAE BEAT
by Kate Grilley
Prime Crime, June 2000
272 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0425175065


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

In an on-line chat with Laura Lippman (and a number of other writers who popped in) a while ago, we discussed reviewers who snub paperback originals. I don't understand such an attitude, but I suspect those reviewers who sneer at "genre" fiction, or who consider themselves arbiters of "literature" feel that it's an important distinction. Feh, pooey, say I.

In reading this first mystery, I found myself once again in that most nerve-wracking situation, reading a book by someone I like. I've known writer Kate Grilley for years. . I was very impressed with one of her short stories that I'd read in "Murderous Intent". But I still didn't know if I'd like Death Dances to a Reggae Beat. Phew, I say.

The mystery in this annoyingly-titled book (there's nothing here about reggae, I suspect it's the contribution of someone at the publisher who thought most readers don't know a thing about the Caribbean) is who killed know-it-all Dr. Zena Sheffield, who sits on the parade committee that Kelly gets stuck chairing when she takes on the temporary position of general manager of WBZE. Sheffield is not what she appears, but just because she's annoying, who would want her dead?

The story is chock-full of island life and events; although Kelly does seem to exist on a total diet of beer and hamburgers, she is clearly very happy with her life. She does put herself in danger, but it's not dumb heroine behavior as much as it is a disbelief that anything serious could happen on idyllic St. Christoforo island. She's a bit naive, accepting really stupid behavior from a beau, but smart enough to listen to her friends. And that's one likable thing about this character and this book - real people with real friends.Ý

The easy life, the casual dress and manners of the island people, the way folks look out for their home, giving up hours to protect nesting turtles, and the general laid-back feeling of the book appealed to me. I did get a bit tired of Kelly's smug "isn't this the greatest place" feeling, but I suspect that's author Grilley, a native of Chicago, who apparently remembers winter all too well, talking. I suspect that this is a book a lot of us would enjoy in the middle of Northern winters; I'll try not to tell myself "well, they have all those hurricanes" to balance my jealousy.

--

http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Sherlockian, Wodehousian & more

Reviewed by Andi Shechter, October 2000

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