Another Day in Paradise: A Louise Golden Mystery

Louise Golden Mysteries #3

by Laurie Hanan

Dog nappings have doubled on O`ahu over the past year. Brazen thefts of beloved pets from their homes have the community on edge. A beautiful, mysterious Chinese actress is distraught when her Pomeranian is stolen. Mail carrier Louise Golden finds the missing pooch, only to learn the actress is suddenly gone, with her belongings. Dogs are disappearing. Street people are being abducted by aliens—or so claims Louise’s homeless friend, Frankie. Clues point in different directions. Nothing adds up. A masked man appears out of nowhere and warns Louise to mind her own business. What did he mean? Everyone is a her boyfriend who tells stories for a living, the ex lover who once betrayed her, the acting coach skilled in the art of deception, the shameless stalker in the yellow Tweety Bird van. At the polo field, tempers flare. Someone’s bound to get hurt. Things heat up for Louise, as well, when a sexy Brazilian polo player befriends her. Is he truly a friend, or a rake intent on seducing vulnerable women? Can Louise even trust her own spiritual awakening to help her find a path to understanding—or is she faking it and running blindly to a dead end? What will she do when she comes face to face with her greatest fears?

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2012

About the author

Laurie grew up in the picturesque islands of the South Pacific. Her father pioneered air travel to many of the tiny islands, and Laurie often accompanied him on his flights. She moved to Seattle to study photography and dance at the University of Washington. While there, she discovered an interest in Jewish Studies, Hebrew, and Middle Eastern dance. She moved to Israel to pursue these subjects, earning her keep by working in the cotton fields of the Jezreel Valley. Laurie moved to London, then lived in several European countries, before returning to Israel. It was on this second trip to Israel that she met the love of her life. They eloped and were married in Cyprus. Laurie and her husband spent time exploring the Far East, before settling in Hawaii. Laurie had a career with the Postal Service, and raised three children. She retired in 2006 and started writing her Louise Golden mystery series. She also promotes animal rights and rescue, and practices yoga, meditation, and qi gong. Laurie lives on Oahu with her husband, two youngest children, a Westie and an alley cat.

Reviews

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book 3 in the Louise Golden mystery series by Laurie Hanan, and I would have a tough time deciding which book I like more, all three are really good. They all kept my attention, had a wide range of great characters, unusual scenarios, and they all kept me guessing. Plus, you get a peek into life in Hawaii! Even with it’s tropical awesomeness, there are still bad things that happen, and bad people, just like every where on the planet.

I loved that Emmeline & Jackie were still in the series, I liked reading how their personalities changed as they got a little older. I also liked that the furry characters were kept in the story. Who doesn’t like reading about cats and dogs?

Not only is this a great mystery, it’s also got lots of humor. Some of the stuff Hanan comes up with is hilarious. And I love that she writes so that you can “see” what’s going on.

In this book, Louise takes us on another “whodunnit” ride that starts with finding a long lost dog, then the story escalates to trying to find out who is killing street people. When she did figure out who the killer was, I was quite shocked. My brain was going in a completely different direction, and I would have never thought of that person. The final scenes were amazing, and the ending couldn’t have been better.

I sure hope there are more books to follow. It would be a shame to not be able to go on more adventures with Louise.

You can check out my reviews of the first two books in the series, Almost Paradise (book 1) & How Far Is Heaven (book 2).

I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who loves a good, not so heavy mystery.

[Kerstin Lampert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third of the Louise Golden, Oahu mail carrier series has more twists and turns than the road to Hana, Maui. But if you really wnat to know what goes on in our Hawaii Paradise..... you'll just have to read it! Otherwise, we are keeping it a secret.

[G.L. Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book with great bones, but too much meat hanging off them (sorry, since many of the characters are vegetarians that might be a bad comparison). I can tell that the author put a lot of herself into the book and into the characters, particularly the main one. That's admirable but in this instance I think it gets in the way. There's a lot of description, particularly of meditation and its surrounding practices that doesn't further and wasn't necessary to the storyline.

It's also a book that suffers from one of my pet peeves, which is tense switching. Most of it is in past tense, but there are so many instances (particularly early on) where an action will be described in past tense, then one immediately following in present. As a former editor that really pulled me out of the story and almost made me put the book away. To be fair, this resolves itself about halfway through the book.

I'm not a huge reader of mysteries, although I've done my time with Jane Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Sherlock Holmes. It seemed to me that there were just a few too many red herrings. Maybe if I'd read the first few books in the series they would have been less noticeable? There are a few clues planted throughout as to the identity of the killer, done quite subtly, but the reveal at the end had me cringing -- not over the killer's personality shift, but over the naivete of the protagonist. I would have thought that after all she'd been through, she'd have paid attention to her gut when it was screaming do not go anywhere with that person alone! Alas, she didn't listen to me either.

The beach polo and horse care scenes were really well done. They had a very nice flow to them. A lot of the characters were reprehensible, though, which makes it difficult to develop an emotional connection with them. I wanted to be able to feel worse about the protagonist's personal life, especially at the end, but couldn't muster the sympathy.

All in all, a three-star book. I finished it to find out what happened to poor Ann... and to the dogs.

[Ellis Shuman · Rating 5 out of 5]

What did I know about Hawaii before reading this book? I used to watch the police detective show "Hawaii Five-O" as a teenager and I recently enjoyed a George Clooney movie that took place there (I remember the actor running frantically down a street). Other than that, I pictured Hawaii as sandy beaches, lava-filled volcanoes, island hopping boat rides, and girls dancing with garlands of flowers around their necks. In short, paradise.

Reading this book I realized that there's a regular sort of life in paradise. People have jobs, walk dogs, go to the beach, and order take-out pizza. Some of the people also have very comfortable lives, as they own horses, play polo, and drive fancy convertibles. Whatever their lifestyles may be, paradise is home for them.

Sometimes, bad things happen in paradise. Pets get stolen, car tires get slashed, and people get murdered. Sometimes it turns out that the most ordinary things are not that ordinary.

This novel manages to balance ordinary life in an exotic setting with un-ordinary events. The book is a good read that will transport readers both to the sandy beaches and to the homes of ordinary folks in Hawaii. Aloha!

[Rick Ludwig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor of proof-reading this exciting new Louise Golden mystery and wanted to be the first to recommend it to readers both familiar and unfamiliar with Laurie Hanan's excellent series. As with any excellent series, a reader gets a full menu of delights from each of the three books whether or not they've read the preceding installments. This latest book is again set on the lovely Island of Oahu and takes our mail-carrier sleuth on an excitement-filled trip which includes a finely crafted mystery and a moving look into our protagonist's personal life. For those who have read the previous two books in this series, the passage of time has produced intriguing changes in many of the continuing characters. For new readers, the completely integrated plot will make you a fan and entice you to catch up on what you've been missing. Great job Laurie. You have really hit your stride with this one.

[Franki Demerle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laurie Hanan is like a magician with her plots, and Another Day in Paradise is no exception. She keeps her reader absorbed in the characters so you never expect what happens next. Like the first two Louise Golden mysteries, this one is easy to read and hard to put down. If you like a good murder mystery that keeps you guessing, this is it. It has a perfect ending. - Franki deMerle, authorFive Flowers

[Eileen Goudge · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a light mystery, this is good value. Fun but with just enough weight to keep it from blowing away with the tropical breezes in this novel set in Hawaii. Louise Golden is a mail carrier who seems to keep stumbling on special deliveries of the unwanted kind. I read it over the holidays when I was too stressed to concentrate on anything heavy. It was just the ticket.

[Ann Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mystery! The plot was placed perfectly to keep me guessing. I definitely did not see the ending sneaking up on me. Louise is charming and admirable and I look forward to reading more of her stories!