I found an old copy of this and remembered I’d enjoyed reading several books from the series, something like, oh, maybe twelve years ago. I decided to give it another go to refresh my memory before diving into the series properly. Results: Two stars at best; god, I’d forgotten how stupid Annie can get. I can’t believe anyone who has supposedly read so many mystery novels, would act that stupid and reckless. I don't remember being so aggravated by her the first go round, but then it has been a while.

Also, running a consultation/detective agency on an island with maybe 50 constant inhabitants, Max? Really?

And one more gripe I have with this series. There are so many references to other mystery novels by other writers. I get that some might see this as a bonus. For me, it only detracted from the enjoyment, as it broke my immersion within the book. I would be reading along, and in the middle of describing a quite tense moment, the author would drop a reference to a similar situation which happened in another novel. Often the novel would be unknown to me, as I don't read mysteries only - I don't even read mostly mysteries - and I would pause, wondering if I was intrigued enough to stop reading to check out the referenced book. This only got more frustrating the further I read, to the point I'm amazed I even finished.
Will look up the second book in the series - Design for Murder - but my expectations are so low, they're almost non-existent.