Call it serendipity. After ten years of marriage, Nina Spark caught her husband cheating on her, which was not such a bad thing after all; things had gotten stale. One snowy New York City evening Nina is surfing the web, when she spots the perfect little beachfront cottage, makes an offer, and lo and behold, she's in. She takes a leave of absence from her teaching job; after all, her sideline of writing travel features for magazines can easily be done with an internet connection. Nina packs lightly and flies off to Pineapple Cay. It looks like things are picking up, life is going to be good. Until Barry Bassett, an entrepreneur who wants Nina's land to build condos and a resort, pressures Nina to sell. Then Barry's rude, tactless wife Tiffany vanishes along with an emerald necklace that was salvaged from a shipwreck. Tiffany seems to have been kidnapped and everybody's looking for her, although not very hard; so put it mildly, Mrs. Bassett was not liked too much.

I grew up on Agatha Christie, and Nina Spark is the closest thing to a young, contemporary Miss Marple I've come across, and that is good, very very good! I believe SUNBAKED might also be the best written cozy mystery I have ever read! Ms. Coffey's prose is effortless, fluid, and absolutely flawless; the dialogues are superb, and each character has a distinct voice. The author has a definite flair for descriptions as well: the scenery is painted vividly, in almost Crayola colours; I could really picture Nina's cottage. The characters are very well-rounded, especially Dave "Danish" Jensen, jack of all trades extraordinaire, who totally captured my imagination and is a perfect sidekick for Nina, who is rather reserved.

I love the fact that Nina starts enquiring about Tiffany's disappearance out of sociological curiosity; it's an original angle and entirely coherent with Nina's personality. SUNBAKED is a fun book, with a solid story that flows seamlessly, and I cannot wait for the next instalment in this series! If you need a vacation, SUNBAKED will do the job! Enjoy your stay in Pineapple Cay!