BLOODY MARY, BLOODY MURDER

At the height of spring break, a Florida bartender finds a murdered woman in her car and becomes obsessed with finding the killer in this debut novel.

Mike, the security guard, and Carlos, the night manager, escort The Lazy Gecko’s premier bartender, Kalliope Brooks, to her car at the end of a busy night. After the men say goodnight to her, Kallie starts the engine and then, in the rearview mirror, sees something on the dark back seat. A shopping bag? A pair of shoes? No, it’s the hand of a petite blond whose lifeless body is folded up in the leg space of the car’s back seat. After Det. Morrison interviews Kallie, he says the police will need to keep her car as evidence. It’s late when she is given a ride home, but her dad has waited up. Her father has been a widow magnet since he moved in with Kallie sometime after his divorce. The next day, after volunteering at a homeless shelter’s kitchen with her best friend, Tess, Kallie breaks down sobbing, thinking of the poor, dead woman. After police reveal the victim was the 24-year-old daughter of a famous, wealthy Washingtonian widower, Kallie and Tess commit to solving the murder. Although Morrison leans toward Mike as the killer (and toward Kallie as his future girlfriend), the young women find plenty of other suspects, including the victim’s landlord and her fiance, who has a girlfriend on the side. But spring breakers, other bar employees, and possibly even Kallie’s friends are not above suspicion. The story’s pacing is excellent, and a few curveballs are thrown into the plot. The spring break wackiness in this beachfront town seems authentic (“Can you believe that fight on the beach tonight?” “That was so crazy! Don’t these people know they’re supposed to be having fun?”). Humor and quirky but believable characters add to Westlake’s entertaining mystery. Bonus: Kallie has a rescue dog, Sherman, a “happy fuzzball,” who gets into mischief and loves pizza. Loose ends involving Kallie’s multidivorced mom and troubled brother, Jack, indicate a sequel may be in the works.

Cheers to this cozy mystery that’s an enjoyable, breezy beach read.