Death by the Sea: A By the Sea Mystery

Greetings!  A Charming Corpse by Tonya Kappes will be published on April 20.  It is the eleventh book in A Magical Cures Mystery series (can be read as a standalone). I am featuring Kathleen Bridge today.  Kathleen Bridge is the author of Hamptons Home and Garden Mystery series and the new A By the Sea Mystery series.  Readers can follow Ms. Bridge on Facebook, Amazon, and Bookbub.

Death by the Sea by Kathleen Bridge is the first novel in A By the Sea Mystery series.  Elizabeth “Liz” Holt has returned home to Melbourne Beach, Florida to The Indialantic by the Sea Hotel and Emporium which is owned by Amelia Eden Holt, her aunt.  Aunt Amelia is an eccentric former actress who helped raise Liz along with Liz’s father, Fenton Holt.  Liz is living in the beach house.  She helps out in the hotel and is working on her next novel (well—she is supposed to be).  Their latest guest is Regina Harrington-Worth and her husband David who will be staying with them while their historic home is being demolished and a modern monstrosity is built in its place.  Regina considers The Indialantic beneath her, but it is the only hotel with a vacancy that will allow pets.  After a successful Spring Fling event, they discover that Regina was found dead in her suite, her husband was stabbed, and some very expensive jewels have gone missing.  Liz immediately dives in to find who committed the dastardly deed.  Who disliked Regina enough to kill her (that is one long suspect list)?  Join Liz at The Indialantic as she examines the clues and questions the suspects to catch the evildoer.

Death by the Sea is a slow starter.  The murder does not happen until the forty-four percent mark.  The beginning of the book is an introduction to the Liz, the hotel, the employees, Liz’s family, the guests, and the shops and their owners.  The author overwhelms readers with the amount of information she is dishing out.  Kathleen Bridge is a wordy writer.  It creates a rich environment, but it also makes a slow-moving story.    I do like the beautiful hotel and emporium that Ms. Bridge created in Death by the Sea. I did feel that the story jumps around making it disjointed.  Liz has returned home after a disastrous relationship that ended in Liz being physically injured.  Since Liz and her paramour are public figures, the whole debacle was fodder for the media.  There are numerous quirky characters with the biggest one being Aunt Amelia.  A popular actress during the 1960s who has passed her love of 60s sitcoms and movies along to Liz.  The various shows and movies from that time-period are mentioned throughout the book (Dark Shadows, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan’s Island for example).  I enjoyed the comments regarding the popular teen girl mystery novels which included Nancy Drew, Connie Blair, and Dana Girls (which I collect).  There was an abundance of repetition (it is a common malady in books that I have read recently) along with a cliché nasty detective.  The pace picks up slightly in the second half of the book as the investigation gets under way.  I think the author tried to put too much into one book.  The hotel, the numerous quirky characters, the unique shops, Liz’s nemesis, Liz and her issues, a love interest, Regina’s father and how he died, the treasure of the San Carlos, Spring Fling, Fenton Holt and his practice, the obnoxious bird with the foul mouth, the hairless cat, and Liz and her writing difficulties are just a few of the items in the book.  The murder of Regina was not as complicated as it seemed, and it can be solved before the reveal.  At the end of the book, readers are still left wondering how Liz was injured.  We are told about her injuries, but not how they happened. There are also some contradictions (one example is the hotel is not doing well, but an employee has a large suite and some people seem to live there for free).  My rating for Death by the Sea is 3 out of 5 stars.  I am hoping the author will scale back in A Killing by the Sea (September 25).

Thank you for taking time out of your day to visit.  Tomorrow I will be featuring Starting from Scratch by Kate Lloyd.  It is the second novel in Lancaster Discoveries series.  I hope you have a day full of love and friendship. I am currently reading The Amish Teacher's Gift by Rachel Good. Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader