The Mallie Monroe adventures continue
After a four year wait, Pine Island author Marty Ambrose has finally released her fifth book in the “Mango Bay Mystery Series.”
“Coastal Corpse” continues the tale of free spirit Mallie Monroe, a newspaper reporter for a small island newspaper, the Observer, on Coral Island, Fla. Recently engaged, Mallie is settled in her Air-stream in the Twin Palms RV park with her teacup poodle Kong.
When Mallie arrives at work one day, the office is deserted. No Sandy the secretary, no Anita the editor. Eventually Mallie finds a manila envelope with the note: “Mallie: Benton (the newspaper owner) and I decided to elope last night; we’re going to honeymoon in Detroit, so he can see the steel mills where I grew up. I won’t be at work all week, so you’re in charge while I’m gone. Don’t screw up! Anita.”
It’s “‘tween time” on the island – that time between the end of last season and the beginning of next – and there’s little news to report. Mallie is desperate for a story and her only options are the closing of a septic cleaning company and the opening of a new bakery. There’s a town council meeting that evening where council candidates are scheduled to debate – but little ever happens there.
One at a time the characters central to the story arrive on the scene. “…Madam Geri (the island psychic) strolled through the door with her turquoise parrot, Marley, on her shoulder…”
Madam Geri “knows” there’s death in the air and has a story for the Observer about a dilapidated violin with scratches on the front that she interprets as the image of Abraham Lincoln… and “Old Abe” is communicating with her.
Then there’s Pop Pop Welch, the RV park’s septuagenarian and handyman, who arrives on his “spindly legs trailing his oxygen tank.” Mallie has taken Pop Pop along on a couple of restaurant reviews and now Pop Pop is telling everyone that they are dating.
Bernice, the editor’s sister, arrives suggesting a story: “Bicycle Bandit Strikes Again.” It seems two Schwinn bicycles were stolen from a neighbor’s lanai in broad daylight.
Joe Earl is a self described nerd who’s only claim to fame is that he owns the “Abe Lincoln violin.” Then there’s Liz Ellis, whose plants are victims of “herbicide.” Finally there’s Wanda Sue, the landlady at the Twin Palms RV park. Wanda Sue is “an upbeat, island-style, Dixie gal in a leopard-print tunic over skintight leggings with Joan Rivers rhinestone earrings.”
Mallie decides to attend the town council meeting where an election debate erupts into a fight between two of the candidates, Bucky McGuire and Travis Harper. During the brouhaha, Wanda Sue fires off her flare gun terrifying the audience but stopping the fight and ending the meeting.
A short time later Mallie gets a phone call from Wanda Sue telling her that she found Bucky McGuire’s body and she’s going to be arrested for killing him.
Newspaper reporter turned sleuth Mallie is certain Wanda Sue didn’t murder McGuire and the investigation, with the help of all the quirky characters, begins.
“Coastal Corpse” is a “Cozy Mystery’ and is both fun and funny. The characters add a great deal of entertainment to this book. Each one is eccentric with his or her own set of idiosyncrasies and the twists and turns keep you guessing who the “real” killer is.
Ambrose lives on Pine Island with her husband, photographer Jim McLaughlin, and their assortment of animals. When not writing mysteries, she teaches English at the local state college and tends her mango grove.
The Mango Bay Mystery series also includes: “Peril in Paradise” (2009), “Murder in the Mangroves” (2010), “Killer Kool” (2012), “Island Intrigue” (2013) and now “Coastal Corpse” (release date July 20, 2016). All are available either in paperback or Kindle on Amazon.com