This is the second book in the series of Rex Graves
Mysteries. Since I was impressed by the first book I was eager to read the
second one. This time the setting is in a Caribbean island. Rex has been asked
to go over by a couple who had bought that hotel where the first book was set.
They want him to solve the mystery of the disappearance of a young woman they
knew.
There were a few people staying at this resort of the rich
and this lady was an actress and wife of a wealthy older man who was also
managing her career. There was no trace of her and the police were not doing
much except for just initial inquiries. There is a good thread of humour as Rex
finds out that this is a naturist resort only when he is in flight. The vision
of his musing of what it would be to try remembering the French grammar while
in the buff were certainly amusing. It a small island and easy to travel around
in borrowed jeep or resort vehicles. He spent a fair amount of time in the day gathering
information from all the guests and also doing some sightseeing. The only evidence
found was a gold anklet and a torn piece of white wrap with a little blood on
it. Most of the people think she has been drowned or eaten by sharks or
abducted. However, there has been no
word for ransom if she has been kidnapped.
There was also the mobile phone of the husband found on the
beach where the anklet and the scrap of cloth were found. The hotel manager has
been hiding something which eventually he shows to Rex – a photograph from that
mobile phone showing one of the guests. What was that person doing on the beach
at that time of the night? He also sets up a meeting with the owner of the
resort and finds he does not like the man at all. He says he was at his club on
the day the lady disappeared and so while flowing that alibi up Rex find that
the reputation of the owner is not totally pristine.
He gets a friend to dig up more information about this owner
and look into his links to a series of murders in Amsterdam. One family had a
good alibi and another couple who had been out the whole day and spent the
evening in their cabin, while others all identify they were at the birthday
bash of one of the guests. One of the guests used to be seen going riding with
the lady in question and there was some talk that they might be having an affair
although he denies it. He is helpful to Rex by lending his jeep or picking him
up from another island when he needs to get back in a hurry. The husband has no alibi and no explanation as
to how his mobile was on the beach. The others while having opportunity
appeared to have no motive. If the body was not found then there was no crime.
So where was the young lady? Did her husband kill her in a
jealous rage? Did that owner actually manage to kill this young lady even
though he had an alibi? Who was killing young ladies in a similar fashion to
those murders in Europe? Amidst all this investigation Rex is worrying about
what has happened to his girlfriend who was out in Iraq. How was he going to
handle meeting up with Helen who he had shared some chemistry with in the last
investigation? The romance will blossom or not?
Another easy read and enjoyable as it is a good mix of
humour, mystery and romance. It is not a heavy tomb and so the story moves on
but still gives the impression of being leisurely progress. There are a couple
of totally unexpected turns in the plot which add to the interest and the
element of mystery.
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