WITHOUT A GRAVE

A scrappy granny survives cancer, too many Bahama Mamas, a wildfire, a hurricane and even getting shot at.

Hannah Ives and her husband are enjoying his six-month sabbatical from teaching math by lolling about on Bonefish Cay. But their days of fun in the sun end when Hannah becomes embroiled in the locals’ protest against El Mirador Land Corporation, whose plan to develop a posh island resort will endanger the coral reef, the water supply, the native economy and, of course, the spectacular views. Still, developer Rudolph Mueller is a charmer, and his daughter Gabriele is a fashion plate. It’s his son Jaime, an unscrupulous wife-beater, who’s the real problem. Is he behind the disappearance of a missing oceanography expert and his wife just before an impact statement in which the expert planned to side with the locals? Hannah and her nearest neighbor, septuagenarian Molly, have their snooping interrupted by wildfires and a hurricane, and private security guards take potshots at them. But they manage to withstand all pressures—even finding a few dead bodies—and return the Cay to its blissful toast-in-the-sun existence.

Hannah (Dead Man Dancing, 2008, etc.) is likable but not very memorable. The plot is merely an excuse for extolling a Caribbean retirement whose virtues seem pretty clear already.