Cynthia Baxter, Right from the Gecko

Right from the Gecko

Cynthia Baxter

Bantam, Apr 2007, $6.99

ISBN 0553588443

Eighteen months have passed since Brookside University School of Law student Nick Burby proposed to commitment-phobic veterinarian Jessica Popper and she said no though they still see one another exclusively. However, they are now returning to the scene of the crime, make that proposal, as they leave Long Island for Maui for her to attend the American Veterinary Medical Association's annual conference and for them to share some romantic interludes.

However their retreat is disturbed when the corpse of reporter Marnie Burton washes on the beach near Jessie. Having met the journalist the day before and as always curious when it comes to bodies, Jessica looks close at the deceased while someone observes her doing so and worries that the Long Islander might have found a clue, especially when the vet begins making inquiries that lead her to a biotech firm.

Though the latest Jessica Popper whodunit is not reigning cats and dogs, fans of a strong amateur sleuth tale will enjoy the heroine's return to Hawaii in which her biggest fear is that Nick will ask the "Question" even when someone wants to end her inquiry. The cast is solid, even with just one supporting feline as so many two legged beasts make prime suspects. Though some purists might object to the lack of the four-legged secondary characters, Cynthia Baxter provides a strong mystery RIGHT FROM THE GECKO.

Harriet Klausner