Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Carrie Doyle Spins Another Quirky, Fun Mystery: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGONFRUIT TATTOO


The third Plum Lockhart mystery in the Trouble in Paradise series is at least as much fun as its predecessors, It Takes Two to Mango and Something's Guava Give. At first glance, Plum's plunge into entrepreneurship with her own villa rental company on the tropical island of Paraiso looks rash and foolish -- and could anyone really be such a murder magnet as this scrappy yet star-struck amateur sleuth?

But Plum can grow on a person! A refugee from corporate marketing and the now outdated world of New York City magazines, Plum is determined to salvage her self-esteem by out-competing the very nasty Damian Rodriguez in representing the best villa rentals on the island. If that means making nice with the glitterati on a luxury yacht in the neighborhood, Plum has the guts to do it.

When one of the staffers from the yacht wants to consult her about a deadly threat, Plum has trouble clearing time for this distraction. So when the girl with the dragonfruit tattoo gets attacked, is it Plum's fault? She'll clear some emotional space by dressing down one of the sleazy men on board:

"I don't like your behavior, Joel," said Plum, who crossed her arms angrily for effect. "You are humiliating your wife. Everyone on the boat watches you flirt outrageously with an actress young enough to be your daughter. It's pathetic. I hate what you are doing to my friend, and you should remember you're a married man in a position of power and not exploit it."

The left vein on Joel's temple started to throb, and Plum thought it might explode.

Doyle's plotting, as usual, is tight, and the action sparkling; if Plum's combination of courage and naivety stilts some of her trilled or whispered conversation and moves the plot twists to the quirky side, it's a fair trade for the fun of discovering how she'll handle the next intensely awkward situation. Not to mention whether she'll ever have a functioning romance with Juan Kevin, the security guard who's been trying to date her!

Don't take anything seriously in THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGONFRUIT TATTOO. All the fun and frivolity may not give you the feel of a tropical vacation ... but a few hours away from real life might be almost as good as one of the many fruity cocktails that Plum keeps swigging.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.


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