Opinions of a Wolf

Summary:
Em Johnson, manager of the Tiki Goddess Bar on Kauai, never intended to get involved in one murder investigation, let alone two.  But when the hunky fire dancing detective Roland Sharpe asks for her help looking into some suspicious deaths in a high-profile, competitive halau (hula group), she just can’t say no.  Before she knows it, she’s entering the geriatric Hula Maidens halau into the biggest hula competition on the island to help her get in where she can snoop.

Review:
I’ve dipped my toe in a few cozy series, but this is the first one that’s managed to call me back for a second helping.  They’re all entertaining in their own way, but this series is also unique and engaging enough to keep me coming back for more, and thankfully those unique elements stayed strong in the second entry.

Em is a good cozy mystery heroine.  She’s smart and willing to help but isn’t running amok destroying the police department’s days.  She only helps when asked and even then, she’s a bit reluctant to disrupt her life.  On the other hand, when she does help, she’s good at it.  She lends insight that it makes sense only she would have, such as being able to infiltrate the halau competition.  This lets both her and the inevitably hunky police detective she’s helping seem smart and efficient.  She also has that every woman quality that lets the reader insert herself into the story.

The setting is perfect escapism.  A Hawaiian seaside tiki bar that feels like Hawaii’s answer to Cheers.  If Cheers had a set of geriatric hula dancers who started “rehearsing” aka drinking before noon.  Not to mention an aging hippie who thinks he’s engaged to a dolphin.  The setting represents both the beauty of Hawaii and the diversity of Hawaiians and Hawaiian culture.  I certainly learned a few words of Hawaiian along the way in addition to thinking fondly of how nice it would be to live in a place with such tropical beauty.

The plot was multifaceted and engaging.  Every character really has their own life and they manage to intertwine just the right amount.  The murders (and attempted murders) happened at the right frequency and managed to be a surprise at least part of the time.  The murder weapons are creative and well-thought-out.  The plot is not predictable but it’s also not entirely off the wall.  I felt surprised but also to a certain level knew that I could have figured it out if I’d thought a bit more.  That’s the perfect amount of mystery in my book.

This would have been five stars, but there is one part of the book that I thought was in very poor taste at best.  This is not a plot spoiler, as it is not necessary to the mystery at all.  At one point, Little Estelle (the eldest of the Hula Maidens), climbs into a man’s car and basically throws herself at him.  If the genders were reversed, this would definitely be read as a creepy old man assaulting a pleasant young woman.  But since it’s an old woman it’s written for laughs.  I get it that Little Estelle is presented as a horny, senile old woman, but there’s a way to write that that doesn’t verge into sexual assault territory.  I just don’t find that sort of thing funny, and even though I get it that the intention was oh that silly old woman, it didn’t sit well to me.  If this was my first Landis book, I probably would have stopped reading.  I didn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t, because the rest of the book is 1,000 times more humorous and creative than those few pages.  But I am disappointed that Landis chose to write Little Estelle that way.  Others might find it more humorous than I did.  I just don’t see such things as a laughing matter.

Most cozy books come with an arts and crafts do at home type project.  This series includes drink recipes.  I’m pleased to say that this book has even more drink recipes at the end than the first one, although I have yet to try mixing any myself.  They are creative and fun-looking, though, and let the reader feel a bit like the Tiki Goddess could really exist.

Overall, this is an engaging, humorous cozy mystery.  Readers of the first book will enjoy their return to the world of the Tiki Goddess.  I am anticipating the next entry in the series, although I do hope that Landis will improve the characterization of Little Estelle.

4 out of 5 stars

Source: Gift

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Previous Books in Series:
Mai Tai One On, review