The Coral Conspiracy

Aloha Lagoon Mysteries #24

by Rosalie Spielman

From author Rosalie Spielman comes a coral-ful new mystery!

Recent graduate Nelly O'Hare was looking forward to studying the picturesque coral reefs of Aloha Lagoon, Hawaii, expecting her new job to be full of sun, surf, and satisfying work. What she wasn't expecting was a pair of arguing professors, an attraction to the resort's hot golf pro, and a totally dysfunctional academic study...ending in murder!

When one of her new bosses is found dead, not only is her ocean study in jeopardy, but the local police are also suddenly asking questions that Nelly doesn't have answers to. Luckily her best friend, Kiki Hepburn, is no stranger to murder investigations, and along with Auntie Akamai and the loud-mouthed Paulie the parrot, she vows to help Nelly find the true killer. From the professor's mousy assistant, to the suspicious man and his weird crabs in the next office, to the impressive ex-wife with a new boyfriend and pampered pooch, there are no shortage of suspects who might have wanted the victim dead. Especially when Nelly discovers that someone seems to have been sabotaging the study findings.

With danger lurking just below the murky surface, Nelly is finding out not everything in Aloha Lagoon is as sunny as it seems. As Nelly closes in on the killer, someone is closing in on Nelly...and if she's not careful, the coral won't be the only thing endangered in Aloha Lagoon!


What critics are

"Death on a Cliff Earns 5/5 Vacation Photos…Engaging Twist & Turns! Cozy Gem!"
~ Kings River Life Magazine

"You are going to want to visit Aloha Lagoon Resort as much as possible, and you will not want to leave!"
~ Cozy Mystery Book Reviews

About Aloha
There's trouble in paradise...
Welcome to Aloha Lagoon, one of Hawaii's hidden treasures. A little bit of tropical paradise nestled along the coast of Kauai, this resort town boasts luxurious accommodation, friendly island atmosphere...and only a slightly higher than normal murder rate. While mysterious circumstances may be the norm on our corner of the island, we're certain that our staff and Lagoon natives will make your stay in Aloha Lagoon one you will never forget!

239 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2025

About the author

As a military brat, veteran and military spouse (retired), I've moved more times than I have fingers to count on! I only recently broke my record of six consecutive years at one address.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that I could make other people laugh with my writing. I enjoy reading to escape from the real world, and hope to give you the same with my stories.

Join my newsletter at www.Rosalie-Spielman-author.com or on Facebook at “Rosalie Spielman author” or my readers’ group, “You Know The Spiel.” I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!

I strive to provide you an escape...one page at a time.

Reviews

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Coral Conspiracy takes us back to Aloha Lagoon when Kiki Hepburn's best friend and college roommate, Nelly O'Hare, is a grad student working an internship on a study of coral reefs. But it seems that none of the professors get along with lots of arguing. Then one is killed. This is another fun adventure with Kiki, Auntie Akamai, Detective Ray, and of course, Paulie, Aunntie's parrot. As always, the setting is lovely with great characters, and a murder mystery to unravel.
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review from the publisher. All thoughts are mine only.

[Alice Hazelbaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What an exciting read - I was up late finishing it! It was great to spend time with some of my favorite characters, like Kiki, Auntie Akamai, and her parrot Paulie. Nelly, a graduate student has just arrived at the Aloha Lagoon on Kauai, Hawaii to participate in an ocean study of the coral reefs. But she arrives to find the two professors who are her bosses, having a heated argument! She is tasked with organizing the ocean temperature data, but finds some of the data missing. When one professor is found dead, she worries that her ocean study will be canceled. Her friend Kiki, who lives on the island, helps her investigate, and there are some strange characters to check out! A man who claims to be an importer/exporter, has a flood in his office across the hall and seems quite secretive. But not to despair, there’s even a little potential romance for Nelly, along with the danger. I enjoyed learning about the giant Pacific octopus and other cephalopods!

[Debi Paglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a great book! I couldn’t put it down. I have been reading all day!😂 Nelly is such an endearing protagonist. She draws you into her new life in Hawaii immediately. Ms. Spielman’s description of how Nelly feels coming from the mainland to work in Hawaii in the summer is spot on - hot and sticky!🥵 She’s an intelligent, likable character who you want to get to know. The storylines are intriguing and kept my attention. And the ending was amazingly creative. This book has it all - new job, new home, new friends, new relationships, new romances and, of course, a murder!

[Missi Martin (Stockwell) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Aloha Lagoon Resort Mystery series is an awesome series centered around the Aloha Lagoon Resort in Hawaii and written by multiple authors, most with numerous books. All of the books center around the resort with multiple things in common in them, whether it is people like Detective Ray and Auntie Akamai or the Lava Pot and other businesses. Rosalie Spielman is one of those authors having written a few surrounding Kiki Hepburn and her adventures including murder and her helping Detective Ray "solve" them.

And now with The Coral Conspiracy, the twenty-fourth book, Rosalie is introducing us to a new character, Nelly O'Hare, who is Kiki's best friend since they met in college. Nelly has come to Hawaii to work as an intern on a study of coral reefs for her doctoral thesis for college. But from the moment that she landed and her luggage did not, she rushes to the office to find the two professors arguing and the cute tenant in the office across the hall wishes her luck because they fight all the time, she wonders if she can do it !!

Luckily Kiki and her fiance, Dex, encourage her to hang in there and she decides she will .... after all it has to get better, right ? Wrong !! A few days later when Nelly gets to the office, Professor Ord, one of the professors looks to be sitting at his desk until she gets a closer look and realizes that he is dead !! And she can't help but wonder if Professor Maurtina did it. After all, they have been fighting ever since Nelly arrived.

Nelly has no idea what she is expected to do .... does she look into flights home, wait it out, look for a job ? Fortunately her luggage finally catches up to her but someone tried to break into her hotel room. She also learns that the funding for the study she is there for didn't include her and her expenses so if she wants to stay she is going to have to find a place to stay. Thankfully she has Kiki and Auntie Akamai there to pick her up and help her out !!!

With twenty-four books in the Aloha Lagoon Mystery series I am sure you will find favorites things or authors or characters or what not. I can tell you that you will love ALL of it !!! And Gemma Halliday Publishing even has a website devoted to the series. Check in out ....

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts: This was a good addition to the Aloha Lagoon series. In case you haven’t read any of them, each story is a stand alone, which I love. But they also have recurring characters that show up – like Auntie Akamai and Kiki. I really enjoyed the descriptions of dive equipment and underwater animals. In this book, you get an education as well as a good mystery.
In this one, Nelly has moved to Kauai as an intern working on her doctorate. Unfortunately, things don’t work out quite the way she hoped as the head of the research ends up dead and she loses her only source of income. With the help of Auntie Akamai and Kiki, she gets a new place to live, a new job, and catches the killer. Oh, and gets a cute boyfriend too.

The book is full of interesting information, great imagery and details, and a good story with a satisfying ending.

Recommended.

[Barbara Hackel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The island of Kauai, home to the Aloha Lagoon resort, is surrounded by tropical beauty on land and in the water. This 24th book in the marvelous multi-authored series features ocean dives, exotic sea creatures, coral, and murder!
What begins as a happy reunion of college friends turns into a deadly race to solve a murder and protect the ocean creatures from unscrupulous behavior. Nellie is on the island as a grad student and is getting an education in solving a murder while she's there!
A fun addition to the series that includes a lot of fascinating marine biology for the reader as well as island charm. Many reoccurring characters and familiar locations makes the reader seem to be among friends. I loved this visit to Aloha Lagoon!

[Barbara Hackel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The island of Kauai, home to the Aloha Lagoon resort, is surrounded by tropical beauty on land and in the water. This 24th book in the marvelous multi-authored series features ocean dives, exotic sea creatures, coral, and murder!
What begins as a happy reunion of college friends turns into a deadly race to solve a murder and protect the ocean creatures from unscrupulous behavior. Nellie is on the island as a grad student and is getting an education in solving a murder while she's there!
A fun addition to the series that includes a lot of fascinating marine biology for the reader as well as island charm. Many reoccurring characters and familiar locations makes the reader seem to be among friends. I loved this visit to Aloha Lagoon!

[Robin Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful new addition to the Aloha Lagoon series, but this book can be read as a stand-alone. Nelly O’Hare has come to Aloha Lagoon for a new job as an intern studying coral reefs. She is friends with Kiki, who has been featured in other books in the series. If you’ve read any of the other books, you will find some familiar characters. What she finds on her first day is not anything she expected. There seems to be no organization, the professors are arguing and there is an odd man in one of the adjacent offices. Things within the study do not make sense to her. Then she finds one of the study professors dead. When she is questioned, she has little to say. As Kiki has been involved in a few other murder investigations, the two of them seek the killer.

[Bernadette Cinkoske · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a ton of fun reading The Coral Conspiracy. I met recent college graduate and Kiki’s former roommate and best friend, Nelly O’Hare, who is an intern for a coral reef study. Kiki and Auntie Akami join with Nelly to find the murderer when one of the study’s professors is killed. Nelly also discovers data missing from the study. There is fascinating detail about coral, octopuses and other ocean creatures. This well plotted and fast paced book kept me entertained far too late into the night because I had to discover where all the twists were leading!

[Bernadette Cinkoske · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a ton of fun reading The Coral Conspiracy. I met recent college graduate and Kiki’s former roommate and best friend, Nelly O’Hare, who is an intern for a coral reef study. Kiki and Auntie Akami join with Nelly to find the murderer when one of the study’s professors is killed. Nelly also discovers data missing from the study. There is fascinating detail about coral, octopuses and other ocean creatures. This well plotted and fast paced book kept me entertained far too late into the night because I had to discover where all the twists were leading!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Coral Conspiracy and new main character, Nelly, are great additions to this multi-author series! The mystery was fast-paced and had more red herrings than an octopus has tentacles. I loved that Rosalie Spielman included a few of my favorite characters from her Kiki contributions to this series. Bring on more Nelly books. I'm ready and waiting!

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!

Another fantastic story in a great series. The author introduces a new character but keeps us informed about the old ones. Quite the introduction to Aloha lagoon for this new character. I love the writing & the beautiful setting. I look forward to more.

[Shannon Binegar-Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this series so much. It was great having Kiki involved again. The story was great and loved every bit of it.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

[The Book Adventurer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved returning to Aloha Lagoon, this time with Nelly O'Hare. Spielman knows how to craft a mystery and an intriguing story!

[DEWEY SHEFFIELD]

GREAT BOOK!