Blood Orchids by Toby Neal

First Line: Drowning isn't pretty, even in paradise.

Police officer Lei Texeira had a deeply troubled childhood that will not leave her no matter how hard she tries to bury it. When she finds two murdered teenagers, she is greatly affected and becomes obsessed with finding the girls' killer.

As she becomes more involved with the investigation, she can't get over the feeling that she's being stalked, and this serves to throw her together even more with the new detective to whom she's becoming attracted. Lei's going to need all the protection she can get because the killer does have her in his sights.

Author Toby Neal paints such a lush and gorgeous picture of Hilo, Hawaii, that I wanted to board the first plane that would take me there. From its beaches to its christmas berry bushes to its fern forests to its "vog" (volcanic emissions from Kilauea), I just couldn't get enough. Hilo and its surroundings are perfect for a mystery series.

I also enjoyed the character of Dr. Wilson, the police therapist. In many ways the scenes between Wilson and Lei were the best in the book and showed Lei's true path to healing from her traumatic past.

There's a lot to like in Blood Orchids. In fact, that's the main problem: there's too much. There are murders, kidnaps, rapes, a stalker, people popping up from Lei's past, shootings, meltdowns, therapy sessions, a romance-- enough action for two books-- and I felt the story would've flowed much better if a few of these elements had been left out.

I also had doubts about Lei's effectiveness as a police officer. This character has emotional meltdowns that cause her to black out. Not a good thing when someone is supposed to be protecting and serving. At least by book's end Lei seemed to be on the brink of putting her past behind her.

I may have had my doubts about parts of Blood Orchids, but the book does have good bones. I'm certainly curious about Lei's next investigation, and who could turn down another trip to Hilo?
 

Blood Orchids by Toby Neal

eISBN: 9780982952404

Mythic Island Press © 2011

eBook, 312 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Lei Crime mystery

Rating: B-

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 

Care Homes Are Murder by Mike Befeler

First Line: We made it safely to Honolulu, without the plane crashing and me drowning in the ocean or my old body being consumed by sharks.

Eighty-something Paul Jacobson is on vacation in Hawaii with his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. Everyone's all set to have fun, but if anyone can blunder into trouble, it's Paul. First he finds a dead body floating in the Ala Wai Marina. Then someone is killed at the care home when he's there visiting friends. This old geezer with short-term memory loss is going to need all his resources to get himself out of trouble.

I've enjoyed Mike Befeler's "Geezer Lit" series since the first book, Retirement Homes Are Murder-- probably because the main character reminds me of my own grandfather in so many ways. Paul Jacobson has a bit of a short fuse and tends to shoot off his mouth when he should keep it closed. He also has short-term memory loss. Every morning when he wakes up, he's completely forgotten everything that's happened in the recent past. That last thing alone would turn most people into curmudgeons, but not Paul. In spite of everything, he's been incredibly blessed with a son and daughter-in-law who love him and include him in as much of their lives as possible. His granddaughter thinks he's the bee's knees and loves spending time with him. He's found love for the second time, and his wife doesn't mind waking up every morning to be asked who she is. He's even found a way to cope with his memory loss: before bed, he writes down all the events of the day so that he can read it all when he gets up in the morning. Yes, Paul Jacobson is a wonderful main character, and Befeler backs him up with a strong supporting cast.

For my money, Care Homes Are Murder is the strongest book in the series so far. The Jacobsons see and do as many things as possible, and as a result, the setting of Hawaii comes to life. The mystery itself is truly intriguing, with just enough plot threads to keep me guessing. In fact there were several times that the author set me up to believe that something specific was going to happen. Each and every time I got that idea in my head, nothing happened. Befeler really kept me on my toes.

This is a series that could easily get repetitive-- Paul having to write down the day's events each evening, none of the police believing that short-term memory loss malarkey, and so on. Befeler avoids the repetition, and I particularly appreciated the fact that Paul didn't have the same old run-around with the police.

The humor in this book is what helps put it a big step above the rest in the series. Paul and his granddaughter are a formidable-- and funny-- team of sleuths, and Paul's son's fixation on renting white SUVs is a laugh-out-loud running joke throughout the book. And then... there's the inclusion of a new character referred to as "Hurricane Madeline." Madeline is a force of nature who could easily be turned into a caricature, but Befeler gives the woman depth. And funny! I was almost rolling in the floor with laughter several times. Madeline comes within an eyelash of stealing the book away from Paul, and I hope this isn't the last time I see her.

A mystery that kept me guessing, a tropical paradise for a setting, wonderful characters, laugh-out-loud humor, and the chance to see a vital group of people of all ages who love each other and love spending time with each other. Speaking of love... I love this series, and I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Paul Jacobson gets into next!
 

Care Homes Are Murder by Mike Befeler

eISBN: 9781432828424

Five Star © 2013

eBook, 268 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #5 Paul Jacobson/Geezer-Lit mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

Retirement Homes Are Murder by Mike Befeler

Title: Retirement Homes Are Murder
Author: Mike Befeler
ISBN: 9780373266623, Worldwide Mystery, 2009
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, #1 Paul Jacobson mystery
Rating: A-

First Line: Where was I?

How would you like to be stuck in your own personal loop of Groundhog Day? That's exactly what octogenarian Paul Jacobson has to deal with every single day. When he wakes up in the morning, he can't remember a thing from the day before. His children are worried about him and install him in his own apartment in the Kina Nani Retirement Home in Hawaii. His first morning there, he wakes up, doesn't have a clue where he is, but notices that the trash needs to be emptied. Given directions to the trash chute, he discovers that the reason his trash won't go down is because someone's crammed a dead body in there ahead of him. If that's not bad enough, he's the prime suspect because he had a grudge against the victim.

How on earth can an old man with no short-term memory find a killer? He gets by with a little help from his friends, namely Meyer Ohana, who is legally blind:

"We're quite a pair of detectives, with my memory and your eyesight. Between the two of us, we don't even make one lame-ass amateur."

It is Meyer who suggests that Paul doesn't go to bed until he's written down everything that's happened that day. When Paul wakes up in the morning, he can read what he's written and know what's going on...even if he doesn't remember a thing.

Author Mike Befeler coined the term "Geezer Lit" for his series of mysteries featuring Paul Jacobson, and it's a term that lets you know that there is plenty of humor in the books. Not only are Meyer, Paul and their meal partner Henry funny, but so is the cab driver they use during their investigation, and one way they discover to improve Paul's memory. But it's not all fun and games. These are old people with serious problems. Meyer's family doesn't visit much, and Meyer's health is deteriorating. Paul doesn't take his memory loss and life in a retirement home well. There are some days that he stays in his apartment feeling sorry for himself. There is such a clear-eyed portrayal of what it's like to be an old geezer that it's all too easy for Meyer and Paul to make you laugh while they're breaking your heart.

The only thing in the entire book that I didn't like was the motivation of the killer. It just didn't seem to ring true and was a letdown. But the partnership of Paul and Meyer is the real strength of this book. Sometimes you just can't take the fight out of old dogs, and that can be a wonderful thing.