HAUNTED HULA-WEEN by Sally J. Smith
Fiction, cozy mystery, Aloha Lagoon Series
4****
Blurb: One bogus ticket fiasco. One scammer taking a deep dive in the bobbing for apples tub. One very exasperated travel agent who knew she was getting too old for rock concerts.It’s the spookiest time of year at Aloha Lagoon, and travel agent turned reluctant sleuth Gabby LeClair is up to her pixie cut in trouble! Global pop superstar Echo Celeste has descended on Kauai to debut her My Haunted Heart album. But the concert of the decade goes south when it’s discovered that hundreds of furious fans bought bogus tickets, and it was Julie, Gabby’s guy Rick’s “little sister,” who sold those tickets. Megastar Echo is devastated for her fans and wants to make things right. To do it, Gabby pulls off a Halloween a private Apology Shindig for the defrauded fans to take place at a crumbling, legend-haunted sugar mill and plantation. But before Echo can even perform, a scream cuts through the night—and the woman found floating in the apple-bobbing tub is none other than the con artist behind the ticket scam. Now Detective Ray is circling Julie like a shark, and Gabby finds herself in the middle of yet another murder to solve. With her team at her side, she digs into a tale of fraud, grief, and revenge that stretches far beyond the islands. It’s Halloween in the islands, and the fire goddess Pele may be wandering the cane fields where one very determined sleuth is all that stands between a killer and his next victim. But if Gabby isn’t careful, she might just be the next one bobbing for trouble!
THOUGHTS: I love the Aloha Lagoon series. Set on Kauai, the settings take us to the islands and the aromas and plants and ocean… In addition, this story uses the legend of Pele in all her aspects.
Gabby is a travel agent who arranges tours for visitors to the islands. Her boyfriend, Rick, flies helicopter tours around the island. Rick’s little sister, Julie, is an event planner who books a huge star, but she gets conned into buying bogus tickets. With angry fans chasing her and facing not just fraud charges, but a murder charge, Gabby and Rick have to figure out who really killed the con artist before Gabby ends up in jail.
A fun story with lots of suspects and a wonderful setting. And a satisfying ending that solves all. Oh, and some great recipes at the end!
Recommended.
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