|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Schoolteacher Sabrina Dunsweeney is recovering from both a breast cancer scare and the recent death of her mother. After spending life according to her mother's diktats, she visits small Comico Island, rents a house and tries to start finding out what kind of person she really is. Sabrina does her best to blend in with the natives and not be a tourist. She soon makes friends with one of the older and more talkative members of the island and she finds out about the myths and the fights of the families who live there. Before long she's swept up into the drama of the place, learning about an old feud between two leading island families, the Tittletots, and the Wrightlys. Harsh conflicts between the families date from the very beginnings of people living on the island onto very recent calamities. And Sabrina gets more involved with the area's tumult after it seems as if the ghost of one of the dead families is haunting her garden. When she meets one of the men involved in the more recent embroilments and senses a quiet, gentle disposition behind his infamous past, she keeps his secret that he's returned home. But when he's found murdered, she decides to find out all she can about the feuds and get to the bottom of the murder to find the truth. Author Wendy Howell Mills has made creating Sabrina's quirky character of the greatest importance in ISLAND INTRIGUE. Much is included of the quiet resigned life that she once lived with her demanding mother and the over-the-top ways she is now trying to find her own lifestyle. She wears overly loud and inappropriate flowing clothing, thinks she is a great cook when what she mostly makes is charred pots and pans, she has a pet name for the tumor that was removed from her breast, and for a quiet teacher lady who never crossed her mother, she shows great verve in shoving herself into the closely-knit center of the island's intrigues. The mystery is nicely done, though not particularly exciting. The resolution of the crime is a surprise, but again, it's a slight one and handled with a lack of tension. And when the island cheers at the end when Sabrina decides to remain on the island for future adventures, the story shows its major thrust, that the hopes for more of this series outweighs the importance of creating a solid murder mystery. If you have time to spare and would like to start another likeable but not compelling cozy series, ISLAND INTRIGUE will fit the bill.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, January 2006
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
