Play Book Tag discussion

Desert Getaway - Michael Craft

3 1/2 stars

Desert Getaway is the first book in a cozy mystery featuring a gay property manager and the ex-cop who once arrested him for murder. Dante has a knack for discovering dead bodies. His job managing short term rental properties in Palm Springs puts him in contact with wealthy renters who are sometimes up to no good. In this book, he discovers a dead body floating in the pool of one of their most exclusive properties. Dante finds himself drawn to the handsome young man who rented the property, but it looks like he may be the prime suspect in the murder. He teams up with Jazz Friendly, a private investigator who was once the police officer who arrested him for the murder of his ex-husband (even though he was innocent) to find out who did it.

This was a fun light mystery. There were a lot of fun characters, although I found Dante himself a bit annoying. I liked the partnership of Jazz and Dante and see a lot of potential for future books featuring the duo. I feel like the author did a good job of capturing the culture of Palm Springs and the people who live and vacation there. The mystery itself was OK. I didn't figure out who did it before the reveal, but I really didn't care too much about it either. Overall, it was a fun book to read by the side of the pool during pride month.