SUN, SAND, MURDER

Murder rocks the tiny Caribbean island of Anegada.

Teddy Creque’s life is full. By night, he takes care of the only source of electricity for the 200 souls who inhabit the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands. By day, he serves as Special Constable, Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, in charge of keeping the peace in The Settlement, Anegada’s only town, as well as at the island’s handful of hotels and restaurants. He’s also the island’s only customs officer, charged with meeting every ferry and aircraft that brings supplies and tourists in from Tortola, which is how he gets involved with Cat Wells, who pilots one of VI Birds’ distinctive mango-yellow helicopters. His affair with Cat leaves him barely enough time to eat dinner with his wife, Icilda, and their children, Tamia and Kevin, before hurrying off to the power plant. But his schedule’s about to get a whole lot more crowded. Anthony Wedderburn, known because of his dreadlocks and his impressive appetite for ganja as “De White Rasta,” discovers professor Paul Kelliher, a herpetologist studying the habits of Anegada rock iguanas, shot dead in the sand at Spanish Camp. After reminding him that special constables don’t really investigate crimes, Deputy Commissioner Howard Tuttle Lane details Teddy to notify Kelliher’s next of kin. Teddy soon discovers that no one at Boston University has ever heard of Kelliher and that the address on his passport belongs to a vacant lot. He also realizes that if he doesn’t investigate, no one will. Armed with what might be a treasure map, his administrator’s ancient computer, and his own dogged curiosity, Teddy sets out to do what no special constable has done before: solve a crime.

Spectacular as a Caribbean sunset, Keyse-Walker's debut is a well-paced puzzler no one should miss.