Boca Moon
Non-series
Frank Foster
Hilliard & Harris (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59133-218-4 (1591332184)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59133-218-3 (9781591332183)
Publication Date: August 2007
List Price: $28.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Lynn Woo's former commanding officer in Naval
Intelligence is vacationing on a tropical island in Southwest Florida.
Retired Admiral Whit Jenkins' son-in-law chooses the wrong night to
take his infrared camera to the salty back bays in search of panthers.
He pays for it with his life and Lynn discovers his murdered, mutilated
body strung between two mangrove trees. It's been years since she's
seen the result of violent death and she hasn't missed it.
But now Lynn must tell Jenkins about the murder, and, ignoring her new
back bay nature tour business, she plunges into the investigation.
Along the way, Lynn deals with more murders, live alligators, seamy
commercial fishermen, a fiery Seminole Indian girl, and attempts on her
own life. She's helped by her best island friend, who is a mammoth,
black sheriff's deputy, and her lover, who is a hand-washing germ
freak. It all happens in a real place - Boca Grande - a tony tropical
island on Florida's southwest coast. It's home to coconut palms and
banyans, pelicans and iguanas, and rich people who mingle freely with
the island folks.
When Lynn Woo closes in on a den of greed and ego which will stop at
nothing, including murder, she's met with a jolting surprise ending to
this twisting tale of tropical skullduggery.
Review:
Frank Foster's debut mystery, Boca Moon, has as its central character
the smart, street-wise, and tough Lynn Woo, a former Navy diver, and is
set on the southwest Florida island of Boca Grande (about half-way
between Tampa and the Everglades), shortened to just "Boca" by its residents.
Three men, who are on Boca Grande for very different reasons, are
murdered within a very short time of each other. Millard Savage, the
first to die, had come to Boca for a month’s vacation with his
wife and his father-in-law, Ret. Admiral Whitman Jenkins IV. Next,
Sammy Osceola, a full blooded Seminole Indian, had come down to Boca
from Tallahassee for a few days to visit with Lynn, his friend from
college, and to see his daughter studying at Florida State. Finally
there was Aubry Lowe, a fisherman and guide who had lived in Boca his
whole life. It is up to the local police force, with the unsolicited
help of Lynn, to solve the mystery linking these crimes.
This intriguing book has a lot going for it. The unconventional
characters are appealing and Boca Grande is the perfect setting for a
mystery. The narrative is fast-paced and the conclusion thrilling. Late
in the story, how Lynn escapes from her assailants, finding herself 18
miles off-shore in the cold waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is truly
compelling.
The only downside to the book is the author's insistence in relating
what each person is wearing at all hours of the day or night, whether
they were about to go fishing or getting ready to dine at a fine
restaurant. Not only is it distracting, it takes away from the suspense
of story he's written.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Boca Moon and to Strategic Vision for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Omnimystery keywords for Boca Moon ...
Location(s) referenced: Florida.