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Neptune's Children by Mary Bowers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Today is a scheduled day off work (federal holidays, for the win!), and I used it to finish reading Neptune's Children by Mary Bowers. This is the 14th book in the "Tropical Breeze" cozy mystery series. The main character is usually Taylor Verone, but this particular story followed several different characters and was all written in third-person pov.

A local reporter turns up dead after infiltrating and investigating a cult-like group just outside of Tropical Breeze--the third mysterious death among Neptune's Children. Taylor's lover, Michael, is especially concerned because Taylor herself has been spending time at The Quayside and refuses to come home. Taylor is keen to find out what happened to her friend, but when other people from Tropical Breeze show up, she realizes they have a better chance at fitting in and getting answers. Taylor reluctantly returns home and tries to dig up additional information on her own. It will take her cat, Bastet, to point her in the right direction in order to find out, once and for all, what is going on with Neptune's Children.

This was all over the place. It made sense as it went along, but getting the story from so many points of view was less than ideal. Taylor barely had any "screen time" at all, which was disappointing. The ending and the explanation reminded me of an episode of Scooby Doo.

Favorite lines:
♦ "Even your cat wants you to come home."
♦ "Maybe I should have asked the cat."
♦ Ed was still driving his 1991 Geo Metro, after all these years, and Taylor was beginning to think that the greatest paranormal mystery in Ed's world was how he managed to keep that car running.
♦ The whole meeting seemed to be getting away from him, as if he'd expected to be planning a surprise party and suddenly everybody was plotting an assassination.

There was also an exchange over the course of several paragraphs that amused and alarmed me:
♦ "Try 1111."
♦ "The PIN is 1111. Listen carefully, yourself."
♦ "Is it 1111?"

I've been loving the books in the Tropical Breeze series, but not this one. Average score of three.

Paradise Island by Mary Bowers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



After cleaning house this morning, I took the time to sit down and finish reading Paradise Island by Mary Bowers. It's the 11th part of her "Tropical Breeze" paranormal mystery series. Main character is typically reluctant psychic, Taylor Verone, but this installment followed her friend, Edson Darby-Deaver for the most part.

When a lovely young widow contacts Ed, claims her dead husband is haunting her, and asks him to investigate, he is skeptical. Although Jessamine Pissarro offers him a tidy sum of money, he turns her request down. Later, Ed learns that Jessamine is dead by apparent suicide, and he can't help but feel responsible. He contacts the family and launches a belated investigation. Eagerly assisting him is the so-called Marvelous Dobbs, a paranormal investigator wannabe. Ed doesn't mind taking on the role of mentor, but when Dobbs notifies Teddy Force, Ed's overbearing co-worker on the reality show Haunt or Hoax?, the investigation turns into a three-ring circus.

It becomes even more of a sideshow when the dead husband's business partner and neighbor wants to do a seance and insists on none other than Taylor Verone. Ed is convinced that Taylor won't agree to such shenanigans, but Roy Angers offers to make a generous donation to Taylor's animal shelter, Orphans of the Storm. For that kind of money, Taylor figures she can put on an act. She doesn't expect to actually channel any spirits, but when she does, the results may put someone else in the sights of a killer.

I really enjoy these stories. They're lite and fun for the most part, with a bit of creepiness thrown in to avoid being cutesy. Reserved, repressed Ed is a hoot, and he's the perfect foil for Taylor's more assertive personality. He's even the perfect foil for Teddy's overwhelming presence. Of course, Taylor's mysterious black cat, Bastet, puts in an appearance, and it's comical to see how many otherwise rational people tend to wait with bated breath for Bastet's reactions to certain situations. The plot was intricate for a novella, but it wove together seamlessly. Best of all, none of the main characters was placed in dire danger at the end.

Favorite lines:
♦ Social media, I'm afraid, is the modern version of the public restroom wall, where people enjoy scribbling capricious and slanderous things as if there could be no consequences.
♦ "...you can't expect somebody else to make you happy. It's not their job. It's yours. You choose. You want to be happy? Go ahead. You want to be unhappy? If you do, nobody else will really care; you'll only be hurting yourself. Everybody else just steps around you and goes on with their life, because what else can they do? There you are, determined to be unhappy, and they don't want to be."

Fabulous, five stars!