This is the final book I needed to read to complete M.M. Kaye's murder mysteries. What I like most about M.M. Kaye's books is the atmosphere and the suspense. She's really great at creating a room, or a moment, or a set of circumstances that make your heart race and provide a bit of an adrenaline boost.
However, it might be a sign that you've put a bit too much atmosphere into your book when at the end, when the characters are summing up the solution to the mystery, and tying up all the loose ends totally rationally, and then someone says, "Hey, what about that other thing?" and somebody else says, "Eh. Ghosts, maybe," and everybody else is like, "Yeah, could be." Then, yeah, you might have put too much atmosphere in your book.

(Incidentally, I didn't realize that the author intended to use that as an explanation; it felt very tacked on as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Otherwise I would've probably skipped this one! As it was, I just laughed it off, like, "Oh, M.M. Kaye. You can't do that in a detective novel!") ( )

This is a murder mystery with the background of the Andamans Islands, another British enclave in the Indian Ocean. Three couples, Christmas house guests, have their love affairs interrupted by a number of murders. Isolated by a hurricane, fortified by endless brandy & sodas, they take on the solving of these murders as a parlor game.

When the murders solve themselves, the story, awash with political incorrectness, reverts back to the three couples and the inevitable happy ending. ( )

Another fun and atmospheric mystery from M. M. Kaye! Death in the Andamans is a cozy-house mystery with an exotic twist: the self-contained, cozy house is the Andaman Islands, where the European segment of society is trapped together during a storm. When one of their number dies in the storm, it seems a simple case of drowning...except it isn't. Who stands to gain by the death of poor coconut farmer Ferrers Shilto? And who, among this very small group of people, could possibly have killed him?

Red herrings abound and though sufficient attention is given to the murderer, I didn't really see it coming (I usually don't though). The dialogue is sharp, witty, and sometimes downright funny. The romance element is a bit predictable but enjoyable all the same, and the proposal scene is pure comedic gold. It reminded me of Christie's Tommy and Tuppence banter and that's always a good thing. ( )

A very acceptable final book of the Death in Exotic Locales that I said I wouldn't bother to get from the library but did anyway. The mystery was your basic country house style; isolated locale and limited cast of suspects. Toss in a possible ghost and a tropical storm and then the required romance. Here the amatuer detectives were 2 damsels in distress and 2 Knights in Shinning Armor but the formula stayed the much the same. The main problem I had was that there seemed to be no real good reason for the murderer to have done the deed. The final wrap up held together except for that particularly glaring bit. Also, the final wrap up took a small eternity of not very interesting prose. But the main story was an enjoyable one and the various red herrings thrown in made a good mystery. But now I am truly done with the series,there are no more.

Another great book by Kaye. I only have one more left. I wish she had written more : ( ( )