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When Plum Lockhart loses her job at a travel magazine, she is forced to flee New York City and lick her wounds. Plum is forced to switch careers and become a villa broker on the Caribbean island of Paraiso. While most people would do anything for the opportunity to live and work in paradise, Plum is not like most people. She is desperate to return to the cold, fast-paced NYC environment. Her desperation increases when one of her clients in the villa, Casa Mango, is discovered dead. All are happy to label the death an accident, but Plum is certain it’s murder, and she is determined to find the killer before she leaves the island.

I had so much fun reading this with a handful of lovely fellow bookstagrammers. As someone who tends to read Golden Age detective fiction or mainstream modern mysteries/thrillers, I was glad to dip my toes into the cozy mystery with friends who are avid readers of the subgenre. While others in our reading group found Plum prickly and frustrating in the beginning (growing to appreciate her as the story progressed), I loved her from start to finish! I instantly pictured MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series joining forces with the British TV series Death in Paradise. Plum’s assertiveness and, at times, hypocrisy were shone in a brilliantly humorous light thanks to Doyle’s choice of a 3rd-person POV. Don’t get me started with why I avoid cozy mysteries with 1st-person POV! Doyle allowed us readers to laugh along with the narrator as Plum unknowingly contradicted herself. With that said, her flaws and insecurities humanized her, making her a great person to root for – both in solving the murder and in finally finding a place where she belonged. 

The mystery is filled with multiple suspects, all mixed up in suspicious activities, and many clues to keep the reader guessing. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot even though the solution, in my opinion, felt underdeveloped. I wished the culprit had been given more pages dedicated to their circumstance and their reason for killing the victim. However, many will disagree with me when I say the solution isn’t always a make-or-break for a mystery novel. I developed enough investment in Plum, in her workplace troubles and the romantic tension between her and her investigating partner, Juan Kevin, and the island atmosphere was exactly what I was looking for when I picked up this novel. A super fun island mystery, and the first in a series I am totally going to continue.