Bookworm 4 Life

by Linda Gerber

Aphra and her father own an exclusive, secluded island resort.  While Aphra loves the beauty of the island and the beaches, she misses civilization — friends, malls, fast food, movies, in general, being a teenager.  She also misses her mom who did not move with Aphra and her father when they bought the island, instead opting to “find herself”.  What Aphra doesn’t know is that her stagnant life is about to get very interesting.  It starts with the arrival of unexpected guests, a family that includes a hot guy about Aphra’s age.  Remote island resorts just do not get unexpected guests.  Then there is the agitated and secretive way that Aphra’s father is acting, the arrival of another mysterious guest who wears a gun, and a murder, a young woman found on the beach strangled by her bikini straps.  Aphra is determined to find out what is going on but little does she know what she discovers could change her entire life.

Reaction: Very cute, very fast, fun mystery.  This is another one I breezed through in less than a day.  I figured out who the bad guy was from almost the beginning, or at least I was pretty sure and what I thought was confirmed, but knowing didn’t really diminish the story because I hadn’t figured out the whys only the who.  While Seth and Aphra are cute, I’m hoping they get a bit more time to develop their relationship in future stories.  I’m really looking forward to reading the next installments because the end of Death by Bikini was really just the beginning of a new adventure, and I liked that.

What’s next: Death by Latte and Death by Denim

Cover, etc.: I forgot to mention, the packaging is also really cool.  The front has a cut-out showing the page behind, which has pictures of skulls, palms, guns, and other assorted, very appropriate pictures.  The chapter numbers have their own pages with a skull and crossbones and an optical illusiony check pattern.  I just overall really liked the set-up of the book.