The Sea Turtle Did It by Kay Dew Shostak Series: Southern Beach Mysteries #2
Published by the author on June 4, 2020
Source: Purchased
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 324
Format: Paperback
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False crawl? Nesting season? Turtle monitors?
Jewel Mantelle is just getting used to the humidity in her new Southern home on Sophia Island when turtle season opens way too early. At least it's too early according to her friends who volunteer with the Turtle Trackers. Have they really found a sea turtle nest, surrounded by garbage, on a stormy April morning?
It doesn't seem likely when a body is discovered, buried where the eggs should be.
Jewel has too much on her plate to worry about a false turtle nest. She's trying to clean up the old house her disinterested, on-the-road husband inherited in Sophia Beach's historic downtown. But when the body is found to have close ties to one of Jewel's new friends, her lunch bunch goes to work trying to solve the murder.
Between college kids partying on the beach, a senator's illegitimate child, a lost sketch pad, and warring turtle factions hindering the investigation, it's a miracle Jewel even has time to try biscuits and gravy.
But she finally did... and she's a fan.
I discovered the Southern Beach mysteries last year when I was on vacation on Amelia Island, fictionalized here as Sophia Island. I absolutely loved the town, the beach, everything, and the author does a fabulous job with bringing the area to life in these books.
Jewel is still new to the island but I love the women she’s become friends with. This time around a young woman’s body is found in a fake turtle nest and the police don’t seem to be getting anywhere, so the lunch group start digging around for answers. The women each being their strengths and connections to the case. They get to the solution before I did, that’s for sure. And I like seeing Jewel settle in and embrace her new home and life, even if her husband won’t come visit.
I need to order # 3 soon.
About Kay Dew Shostak
After being raised in a small-town in Tennessee, Kay lived around the country in a variety of settings. Taking a look at the familiar and loved from new perspectives led Kay to see, and then write about, the absurd, the beautiful, and the funny in her South.
After publishing several stories in compilation books and spending a few years in journalism, Kay wandered into writing fiction and found it hard to leave. She currently is working on her next book and living in Fernandina Beach, Florida with her husband.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges: