Detective Fiction, Multicultural Detectives - Fiction, Women Detectives - Fiction

Paradise Interrupted

Name: Paradise Interrupted
Author: Penny Mickelbury
ISBN: 9780684859910

by Penny Mickelbury

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Overview

Before Carole Ann Gibson even has a chance to enjoy the white sand beaches of Isle de Paix, she senses there's something sinister lurking in this tiny Caribbean paradise. She's seen evidence of an international drug operation taking place, and somewhere on the island there's also a fugitive in hiding -- Denis St. Almain, a drug kingpin on the run from a murder charge.

Carole Ann's famous smarts, instincts, and raw courage will be tested to the utmost in Paradise Interrupted, the latest installment in Penny Mickelbury's acclaimed Carole Ann Gibson mystery series. Luckily, this particular sleuth %151; a Washington, D.C., lawyer-turned-private detective %151; loves a challenge.

The adventure begins as C.A. and her partner, ex-cop Jake Graham, are called in to help the new island government improve its security and communication systems. Already the new president's bodyguards have been shot dead, and soon enough a construction foreman is murdered, and a new road to the interior uncovers a secret that threatens the lives of islanders and cops alike. But that's not all: after heeding a mysterious call for help, C.A. finds herself not only working for the island government, but also coming to the aid of the island's most wanted criminal.

As Carole Ann untangles the web of social and political ties that binds her suspects, she learns that everyone has something to hide %151; Viviene and Odile, owners of a popular restaurant and sisters of the deposed president; the de Villages, a reclusive, aristocratic family protected by armed guards; and of course Denis St. Almain himself, who has the unnerving habit of materializing in the most unexpected places. What Carole Ann learns about the island's dangerous past leads her all the way back to Washington, D.C., and threatens her very life.

Penny Mickelbury's Paradise Interrupted is the most exciting Carole Ann Gibson mystery yet %151; a page-turning tale of blackmail, political sacrifice, family secrets, and betrayal.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The protagonist in this fourth book in Mickelbury's series of atmospheric mysteries (The Step Between, etc.) is Carole Ann Gibson, an African-American criminal defense attorney and half-owner of Gibson, Graham International, a flourishing private security company in Washington, D.C. Carole Ann and her partner in the firm, Jake Graham, a hard-boiled former homicide cop, work well together, although they spend a lot of time arguing good-naturedly over their different approaches to criminal justice. One of their new clients, the president of the Caribbean island of Isle de Paix, hires them to set up the infrastructure and security arrangements needed if the island is to attract tourists after the sudden and mysterious departure of a long-term Communist dictator. Just before Carole Ann leaves to oversee work on the island, a judge that she knows is killed in D.C., and an accused drug dealer, Denis St. Almain, is suspected of the murder. When she arrives on Isle de Paix, Carole Ann is horrified to discover that violence--and St. Almain himself--are present on the beautiful, unspoiled island as well. An employee on a road-building project she's supervising is killed and the heavy equipment torched. In order to do her job, Carole Ann must discover who is wreaking havoc in this island paradise. Unfortunately, this mediocre mystery doesn't stray far from the obvious, and the conventional characters, depicted in unlikely situations, make for uninspiring reading. The author provides little suspense, but she does create an attractive Caribbean setting. Agent, Charlotte Sheedy. (Feb. ) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Fans of the Carole Ann Gibson series will appreciate this change of pace as the heroine works without her usual partner. Visiting the Caribbean's Isle de Paix to help the economically embattled government build new roads, Gibson confronts corruption and murder. For most collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.