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!