Book Details:
Author: Erik D’Souza
Release Date: 31 July 2023
Series: A Suzanne Rickson Mystery (Book 2)
Genre: Cosy Mystery
Format: E-book
Pages: 270 pages
Publisher: Timbercrest Publishing
Blurb:
In the mood for an idyllic escape? Death on the Rocks will transport you right to the sunshine coast, where a community theatre event finds its members dying, and only senior citizen sleuth Suzanne must use her experience and intuition to follow the all too human twists to the real killer, before the company runs out of understudies.
Read full book blurb
Every amateur detective secretly believes they are smarter than the police. Suzanne Rickson doesn’t think that. She has faith in Sergeant Bridges’ assessment that the director of their seniors’ theatre troupe, the beloved Wilbur Ghostkeeper, most likely slipped and perished on the rocky shoreline of the Salish Sea.
But Suzanne quickly regrets her naïveté after Wilbur’s widow is violently robbed and assaulted.
Is it too late to investigate the likelihood that whoever attacked the widow may have murdered her husband? Suzanne reluctantly accepts the truth that, yes, she is brighter than the police, and without her, a killer would go free.
“Delightful summer read!”
– Iona Whishaw, best-selling author of the Lane Winslow mystery series.
Review
Death on the Rocks by Erik D’Souza is a cosy mystery that blends murder, community theatre and family drama against the atmospheric backdrop of British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast. The second Suzanne Rickson Mystery begins when Charles Rickson discovers the body of Wilbur Ghostkeeper, the director of the senior theatre troupe, The Funnybones, on the shoreline rocks. What initially appears to be a tragic accident soon becomes far more troubling, drawing Suzanne into a case shaped by inheritance, concealed histories and conflicting loyalties.
The greatest strength of this novel is Suzanne herself. Nearly seventy, perceptive, tenacious and refreshingly imperfect, she feels like a person rather than a carefully constructed sleuth. Her aching hip, wavering memory and family responsibilities are never used to diminish her; instead, they make her resourcefulness more admirable. Her affectionate, lived-in marriage to Charles is particularly delightful, while the wider cast gives the story the warmth, humour and occasional exasperation of a close-knit community.
I also enjoyed how naturally the theatrical setting becomes part of the mystery. Rehearsals, costumes, competing egos and the determination to keep performing provide both comic relief and clever opportunities for misdirection. D’Souza lays out several plausible suspects and allows small, seemingly incidental details to gather significance. Most impressively, the conclusion distinguishes between what can be proved and what may forever remain uncertain, lending the story a thoughtful moral complexity rarely expected from such a gentle mystery.
The novel would feel even stronger with a slightly leaner middle. Some rehearsals, domestic diversions and reminders of earlier events slow the momentum just when the investigation should be tightening its hold. A little compression here, and greater trust in the reader to retain certain details, would allow the sharper clues and character revelations to carry more weight. Although the central mystery can be followed independently, readers familiar with the first book, Death in Halfmoon Bay, will also better appreciate the continuing family and emotional threads.
Warm, observant and more reflective than its cosy exterior suggests, Death on the Rocks is ultimately as interested in ageing, forgiveness and the stories families protect as it is in identifying a culprit. Suzanne Rickson is an immensely likeable guide through it all, and readers who enjoy community-centred mysteries, mature protagonists and an Agatha Christie–inspired puzzle should find much to appreciate here.
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