Aloha Betrayed by Donald Bain

Murder, She Wrote: Aloha Betrayed by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain ISBN-13: 9780451466556 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Obsidian Mystery Released: March 3, 2015

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Jessica is on the Hawaiian island of Maui, giving a lecture at Maui College on community involvement in police investigations. Her co-lecturer is legendary retired detective Mike Kane, who shares his love of Hawaiian lore, legends and culture with Jessica. But the talking stops when the body of a colleague is found at the rocky foot of a cliff.

Mala Kapule, a botanist and popular professor at Maui College, was known for her activism and efforts on behalf of the volcanic crater Haleakala. The high altitude crater is already the site of an observatory, but plans to place the world’s largest solar telescope there split the locals, with Mala fiercely arguing to preserve the delicate ecology of the area. Was someone trying to muffle the protestors? Or was Mala’s killer making a more personal statement?


My Review:
Aloha Betrayed is a cozy mystery. This is the forty-first book in the series. You don't have to read the previous novels to understand this one, and this one doesn't spoil the whodunit of previous novels.

Technically, this is a clue-based mystery, and whodunit can be guessed. The final clues that straighten out the muddle of who and why don't come until nearly the end. I like Jessica as a heroine, but there was a "no, don't do it!" moment that seemed to stretch reasonable caution. Jessica did a number of vacation events like a luau, dinner cruise, and a picnic in Iao Valley. It brought back memories of my Maui vacation.

There was no sex. There was a very minor amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this fun mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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