Maddy Hunter Hula Done It

Hula Done It

Maddy Hunter

Pocket, Nov 2005, $6.99, 338 pp.

ISBN 0743482921

She has the perfect job as a tour guide for a senior travel club, but every time Emily Andrews takes a trip with her group, someone gets murdered and she is in the thick of the investigation. The trip on the cruise ship, the Aloha Princess, touring the Hawaiian Islands, is no different. Professor Dorian Smoker, a lecturer on the famous explorer Captain Cook, is thrown overboard as witnessed by his teaching assistant Bailey.

On his person was a book written by seamen Griffin Ring, which contained a map of buried treasure, located on Kauai, given to him by one of the members of Emily's travel group. She wanted him to authenticate it for her. Luckily, another member of the group made a photocopy of the map, and they look for the treasure. Professor Smoker had many enemies, including two groups who disagreed with his portrayal of Captain Cook. Also on the cruise is an ex-student he flunked, which cost her a once in a lifetime job, and a couple of students he slept with. When a second murder occurs and Emily is attacked, she and the group investigate all the suspects hoping to find the killer.

HULA DONE IT is a fabulous cozy, that is filled with intrigue, humor, and a protagonist who is a combination of Calamity Jane and the Stooges (yes, all three of them). There are some scenes that are so hilarious, readers will laugh so loud that tears will stream down their faces. The secondary cast is a delightful crowd that will charm readers with their eccentricities. Maddy Hunter writes a great who done it that doesn't contain violence or blood, but tells a good story.