Burned (Regan Reilly Mysteries, No. 8)

I could find little to recommend about this book. Even the title barely made sense. If this book were food it would be a "bad carb," offering a high glycemic index with almost no nutritional value. The inept writng was peppered with more clichés "than you could shake a stick at," and the plot was silly and simplistic. The characters were flat and so poorly drawn that I found it impossible to make myself care about what happened to them. Dialog was banal. Example: "...Did you read it?" "Yes. It was great." "Yup. Good picture, huh?"

I struggled to read to the end, but that was not satisfying either. It was a very pat finish with too many disparate ends tied up in the last few paragraphs. I would not choose to read another book by this author.

Carol Higgins Clark has come up with another excellent Regan Reilly mystery, replete with nice young people in jeopardy and some very eccentric characters. I did miss her mother and father and her fiance, Jack (no relation) Reilly. It's a fun and fast read, especially enjoyable on a long car or plane trip.

The ending is a good one for all concerned, villains excluded. It's exactly what one wants and expects from Carol Higgins Clark.

That said, I must remark that, as a faithful viewer of the CSI and Law & Order franchises, I was appalled by the sloppiness of the police work. The crime should have been solved before Regan landed in Hawaii. A valuable piece of evidence, the lei, was returned to the museum instead of taken by the police to be processed. The victim's apartment was NOT sealed and probably hadn't even been searched. Regan found a valuable clue in plain sight and walked out with it with no trouble. Dorinda's cousin was free to dispose of the contents as he chose. This is so bad it's pathetic. Gil Grissom would be holding his head in sheer horror, and Detectives Fontana & Green would be in shock. Because of this gaping hole in the plot, I am subtracting a star.

While definately an improvement for this author in plot development, I really felt I was reading something like a Nancy Drew mystery. Definately done with this author -- I like my reading to be a little more intelligent.

Just as Regan Reilly is ready to leave Los Angeles for New York to visit with her parents and her fiancée, Jack (no relation) Reilly, the worst snowstorm of the year hits New York and all flights to New York and other points on the East Coast are cancelled. Regan is disappointed as is Jack and her mom as they had plans to work on their upcoming wedding. However, Regan's best friend Kit calls her. Kit is in Hawaii at the Waikiki Waters Playground & Resort with and extra bed in her room. She wants Regan to have a "bachelorette" weekend with her and meet her new love interest, Steve.

Regan arrives and finds out that Dorinda Dawes, a newsletter/gossip columnist and photographer who works for the hotel, has been found on the beach. Dorinda washed ashore and was found wearing a beautiful shell lei that belonged to a former Hawaiian queen and has been missing for thirty years from the museum where it was stolen. The manager of the hotel, Will Brown, hires Regan to look into Dorinda's death as he doesn't think it was an accident as the police have ruled it. Since her friend Kit is busy with her new boyfriend, Steve, Regan decides to take the case.

Will Brown is anxious to be assured that all is well at the hotel as many pranks have been played and strange accidents lately. Will does not want anything to interfere with an upcoming charity ball and auction where the twin shell lei to the one found on Dorinda is to be auctioned off. Will is also very busy handing a strange tour group from Hudville. The group is led by two elderly twin sisters, Ev and Gert, who are managing the monies left by a benefactor in Hudville to allow groups from that very rainy town to visit Hawaii.

These are just a few of the crazy, likable and sometimes criminal characters the reader meets throughout the story. This is LIGHT reading but a lot of fun trying to guess the villains and how Regan will solve the mystery. These Regan Reilly stories are NOT serious mysteries but I find them to be more of a comedy with a little romance and detective work thrown in. Just a light fun read! Enjoy it for what it is!!

This was simply written and not very exciting. The murder could have been committed by any of 10 unusual people. By the middle of the book, I really didn't care who did it. The book failed to get me hooked.

This book is somewhat better than Carol Higgins Clark's previous effort, Popped. The plot and some of the characterizations are less stilted. I say SOME of the characterizations, because the secondary characters are, as always, completely one-dimensional and so self-consciously quirky that they interfere with the flow of the story. And, as someone else pointed out, the police work--or lack thereof--was dreadful.

Finally, I find it completely unfathomable that a Mount Holyoke graduate has such a tenuous grasp of grammar, particularly the use of the past perfect.

In this Regan Reilly mystery, our newly-engaged heroine is looking forward to traveling from L.A. to New York to visit fiance Jack. But a blizzard has hit the northeast, so her travel plans fall through. To the rescue is best friend Kit, who is in Hawaii on business. She convinces Regan to fly over for a bachelorette weekend, since she won't be going to New York after all. And when the body of the annoying Dorinda Dawes washes ashore on the beaches of the resort where Kit is staying, Regan's PI instincts kick in, and she cannot resist the invitation. But the suspicious drowning death of an employee of the Wakiki Waters resort is just the tip of the iceberg. Where did Dorinda get the priceless lei that she was said to have been found with--stolen from the Seashell Museum some 30 years ago..when she'd only been in paradise for 6 months? And this guy that Kit is suddenly so smitten with...seems too good to be true. Is Steve everything that he seems to be? And who is behind the string of PR nightmares that seem to be plaguing the resort hotel? Not to worry, Regan, PI, is on the case......

If you're looking for a great literary work, keep looking. If you're looking for mindless fun on the beach, you may have found exactly what you're looking for.

DYB

Regan Reilly is soon to be married to her boyfriend Jack. Unable to get to New York one weekend, Regan decides to visit her friend Kit who is in Hawaii on business. As Regan is on the phone with Kit at her hotel, a body washes up on shore. Once Regan is in Hawaii, she discovers that the deceased was a hotel employee, Dorinda Dawes, a person who many people had a motive to kill. Dorinda was found with a valuable shell lei around her neck. Will Brown, the manager of the Waikiki Waters Playground and Resort hires Regan to investigate Dorinda's death. There are a lot of eccentric characters staying at the hotel. Particularly, members of a group called Praise the Rain staying at the hotel. Regan runs into Carla and Jimmy, a young couple who recently got engaged. She also meets Jimmy the Director of the Seashell Museum. Ned, another Hotel employee, finds that he can't help himself but get into trouble. Her friend Kit in the meantime falls in love with a hustler named Steve who is far more dangerous than he appears. Jazzy, a house sitter, her boss Carl, Will's parents, and Dorinda's cousin Gus, all make periphery appearances. Regan Reilly makes solving three crimes look like a breeze. Regan Reilly is a confident investigator, a caring friend, and loving daughter. Someone you can count on!

Leave it to Regan Reilly to solve another mystery only this time it is on the Island of Hawaii. You don't have to wait long cause in less then a week Regan has solved the death of Dorinda Dawes who had many enemies.

While investigating the death and also the disappearance of the missing shell lei she is also keeping an eye on her best friend Kit and her sudden new love interest.

Being a private investigator Regan is always looking out for her and for good reason. Sometimes things just dont appear to be what they might look like on the surface.

You will find fun, mystery, murder and romance all mixed in together while reading about the beautiful island. The timing of this book could not of been better with the snow, cold and awful winter weather we are having.

I suggest you pick up a copy sit down and prepare yourself for Regan to take you on a journey that is fun and fast paced. A GREAT read.

Great book!