In honor of the this month's release of the paperback version of Aloha Betrayed, here is a little preview to tempt you to take an armchair trip to Maui.
Jessica Fletcher is on the
Maui College campus to conduct a class on community involvement in criminal investigations
to a group of police recruits. Her co-teacher is former detective and Hawaiian
police legend Mike Kane. When the body of a young botany instructor is found at
the bottom of a cliff, Jessica and Mike join forces to look into whether her
terrible death was an accident—or murder. But someone doesn't want her to find out the truth.
By Jessica Fletcher
I
was pleased that I’d decided to make the trip up the volcano Haleakala, and to bicycle down instead of
being driven. The experience was exhilarating, and it had displaced what had
become nonstop fixation on Mala Kapule’s death. Not that those thoughts hadn’t
intruded from time to time, but they weren’t all-consuming as they had been. On
a relatively level stretch of road I glanced back to see that the man who’d
left the base camp with me had now closed the gap and was only fifteen feet
behind. The straight-and-level portion was quickly replaced by another
switchback that curled around the mountain and skirted a steep drop-off. The
man with the shaved head was suddenly abreast of me. Hadn’t he heard the
admonition that we were to ride in single file only? I shook my head. He didn’t
get the message. “Get behind me or pass,” I shouted. He responded by moving
close; he was now pressing against me, causing me to have to turn, which
pointed me at the drop-off.
“Stop
it!” I yelled as I fought to avoid going over the edge.
I squeezed hard to
apply both sets of brakes. The front brakes did nothing. The rear ones caught,
the unequal torque sending my bike into a sideways skid. He gave me one final
push with his hand and sped ahead, as I sped ahead, too—straight for a thousand
foot drop into oblivion.
Jessica Fletcher is an experienced bicyclist, so she expected her ride to be a breeze.
Have you ever dared to try something new when you were on vacation?
How did it work out?
Not sure I want to visit warmer climates if it means getting myself into hot water . . .
ReplyDeleteGreat preview!
ReplyDeleteI usually stick to what I know, especially when on vacation, so I'd have to say I haven't really tried anything new. I guess I'm more of the play it safe type. I enjoy the Murder She Wrote series.
ReplyDeleteI would love to go to Hawaii but I will stay away from the edge of cliffs! ;)
ReplyDeleteAloha! And thanks for visiting!
ReplyDelete