A Fun Little Mystery

Death in the Wind – A Seabreeze Island Murder Club Mystery Book 1 by L.C. Richards (2024) – A posh resort island along the panhandle of Florida is excited to have a world sailboarding event take place on their waters. Following the murder of the top athlete at the event, a local book women’s book club dive in to finding the murderer. A classic cozy mystery.

Why I Liked It – Fun characters in a classic cozy mystery situation.

Ah, the cozy mystery! Little to no “on stage” violence or gore. It’s the fun of a cast of quirky characters, including a long-suffering police officer, that are the center of the story. They’re the kind of people you’d like to hang around with for a glass of wine and a few nibbles. “Death in the Wind” hits all the buttons here. There’s enough of a mystery to solve, a couple of characters you can play “boo the villain” with, and a couple of characters who are just a half bubble off level for fun.

At the center is local book store owner Maud Baxter. She’s bound and determined to keep the doors open in her bookstore. That’s an especially tough challenge in a summertime tourist destination. Maud is a bit grumpy about most things, even the Seabreeze Island Murder Club. It’s a book club of local ladies who don’t always remember where to find the line between fact and fiction. Add in her young adult daughter who keeps prodding her along, plus the second wife of Maud’s ex-husband. She wants to be friends with Maud, but there’s a suspicion she really wants the bookstore. Last but not least is the charming and good-looking local sheriff who has carried a bit of a torch for Maud. It’s perfect chemistry for a fun read. From this book, the series has grown to five books. Books that I’d happily pick off a shelf if I needed something fun to read.

There are a couple of writing stumbles that really bugged me. Having an American suddenly start listing people’s height in centimeters was jarring. There’s no setup for why, so it just happens. And let’s face it, for the average American, that’s just not going to happen. The other thing is the habit of giving full descriptions of the same item, over and over. There’s an antique bowl that sits on an antique table just inside the front door of Maude’s house where she drops her keys. Cool, nice detail. Doesn’t need to be mentioned again. It’s just the bowl on the table. Or the Italian sectional sofa (that’s not its full description, but I can’t remember it off the top of my head) that gets the same treatment. Neither of these has any impact on the story. At all. Describe them and move on. Just a personal annoyance.

Let’s face it. If that’s the worst I can come up, the author has done a pretty good job with the writing. I would absolutely loan this book out to friends looking for a fun read. It is what it is, a quick, popcorn kind of read that you can blast right through. Not Poirot, Marple, Holmes, or Wolfe, but a solid addition for fans of the genre.

Rating – *** Worth A Look