Recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler is taking part in a group
home in the Hamptons; Dedhampton to be exact, with best
friend Jimmy, also a recovering alcoholic and Jimmy's
longtime girlfriend Barbara, who is co-dependent. Others at
the house are a mish mash of recovering addicts that make
for a very interesting group of people, which becomes even
more evident when Barbara stumbles upon the body of one of
these housemates on the beach early one morning. She had
hauled Jimmy and Bruce out of bed at the crack of dawn
because Barbara wanted to enjoy every second of the beach on
her vacation. Of course, she couldn't really go by herself,
now could she?
At any rate, Barbara's limitless supply of energy had all
three of them camped out at a prime spot near the water when
she decided that she simply must take a little run. That's
when she finds the body of Clea, another housemate who's
also an investigative report. This puts the three of them
through a ringer of police questioning and a thorough house
search.
When Clea's boyfriend, Phil, shows up later that night, the
process threatens to start all over again. Phil acts more
annoyed that the police suspect him rather than upset at his
girlfriend's untimely demise. But it turns out that Phil has
some secrets of his own.
Speaking of secrets, everyone seems to have them especially
when it comes to who is sleeping with whom. There are also
secrets from the past that keep creeping into the lives of
this group of people. Every time you turn around, there's
another one coming to light that's more intriguing and
enlightening than the last.
As a little side plot, Bruce is very attracted to another
member of the house. Her name is Cindy and there's
definitely something going on there. However, it seems that
Cindy has some secrets of her own. Where does she disappear
to all the time? Bruce just wants to connect with her,
secrets and all.
Of course, then there are all these bodies that keep
dropping like flies. Granted, this could be the most
adventurous vacation any of these people ever have.
The mark of a great novelist is when the reader gets so
involved with the characters in a book that they react to
them as if they were real. Elizabeth Velvin writes such
characters. They're quite three dimensional and I actually
formed opinions about each of them. For example, I found
Barbara to be one of the most annoying "people" I've ever
experienced. If I had been a part of DEATH WILL EXTEND YOUR
VACTION, I would have
avoided her like the plague. In addition to being
co-dependent, she was also very controlling. Everyone had to
do what she wanted regardless of what they would like to
have been doing. Jimmy and Bruce are characters that I would
have loved hanging out with as is Cindy.
When you start reading DEATH WILL EXTEND YOUR VACATION,
you're going to be "involved," too. I can't wait for Ms.
Velvin's next book ,and I'll be backtracking to read her
others in this series. Prepare to spend the afternoon
reading this one until you've finished it because you will
not be able to put it down!
Recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends, computer genius Jimmy and world-class codependent Barbara, take shares in a clean and sober group house in a Long Island resort community known locally as Deadhampton. Things turn lethal when the tide washes in the body of their beautiful housemate Clea, an investigative journalist whose passions included environmental issues and more than her share of boyfriends. Soon Bruce is up to his neck in sleuthing. His housemates and the crowd staying with a clean and sober playboy in a big house on the dunes claim recovery from drug, love, and sex addictions, compulsive overeating, bulimia, and anorexia. But somebody's not abstaining from murder. As the summer heats up, secrets and lies start buzzing around this dream vacation like flies at a picnic on the beach.
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