Bermuda Grass [Paperback]

Keith Miles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2007

Alan Saxon envisages an idyllic holiday with his daughter Lynette in Bermuda. That dream is ruined when Lynette brings a fellow Oxford student Jessica Hadlow with her. Jessicas attitude toward people and money makes Saxon gasp.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this absorbing, accessible mystery from the prolific Miles, golf pro and former British Open-winner Alan Saxon (last seen in 1991's Flagstick) agrees to help design a new golf course for a Bermuda hotel, using a new hybrid grass strain (Cynadon dactylon), but his troubles begin even before he steps off the plane from England. A divorced dad, Alan has brought along his college-age daughter, Lynette, and at her insistence, an Oxford friend of hers, Jessica Hadlow. A dominating, spoiled and outspoken sexpot, Jessica quickly derails Alan's plan to enjoy a little holiday time with his daughter. Alan's architect partner, Peter Fullard, says things aren't going well with the golf course's construction, and they're made much worse when Alan discovers the body of a murdered man in the middle of the course. Then Lynette and Jessica get abducted. Alan struggles with Jessica's father, a wealthy businessman, from whom Jessica clearly derives her rude and arrogant manner, as well as with the police, the hotel management, Lynette's mother and his own guilt for not monitoring the two young women more closely. A seductive, long-legged golf enthusiast and Peter's threat to quit the project enormously complicate the picture. Miles has something for everybody in this delicious entertainment: a surprise villain, violent fisticuffs, an excellent golf game, lovely women, some sex, fine detective work and a stunning climax. (Mar. 18)Domestic convention in Washington, D.C., the weekend of May 3-5.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Under several pseudonyms, Miles has written 37 crime novels, including the popular Domesday series by Edward Marston. This is the fifth Alan Saxton golf mystery but the first since 1991. With his playing career slowing down, former British Open champ Saxton has turned to golf-course design. Called to the site of his latest gig, a resort in Bermuda, to make some last-minute modifications, he flies to the island from London with his college-age daughter and her friend, hoping to mix work with relaxation. Plans change when a dead body turns up on the course, and later, his daughter and her friend are abducted. Is the golf-course project being sabotaged or are the kidnappers trying to extort money from the rich father of Saxton's daughter's friend? Fans of the series may be disappointed to discover that golf plays a fairly minor role here, but Miles constructs a reasonably engaging plot and makes the most of the island atmosphere. Mystery-reading golfers will be pleased to see Saxton back in action. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590580133
• ISBN-13: 978-1590580134
• Product Dimensions: 2.7 x 10.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,145,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well written but unlikable protagonist, July 8, 2002

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bermuda Grass (Hardcover)

When golf pro Alan Saxon is hired to help build a golf course for a hotel in Bermuda, he decides to turn it into a vacation--taking his college-aged daughter with him. When he arrives in Bermuda, however, he finds that the golf course has run into problems. At first he dismisses the idea of sabotage--but when a murder victim ends up hanging in the middle of the course, he isn't so sure. When someone raises the stakes and attacks Saxon's family, he decides to spring into action and get to the bottom of the case--no matter who gets hurt.

Author Keith Miles sets up an intriguing mystery with beautiful Bermuda as the backdrop. The hotel where Saxon is staying is the result of a bidding war that left a lot of angry parties behind--and it is possible that someone is trying to get their revenge. Of course, the murder victim wasn't exactly Mr. Personality, so possibly it's nothing more than coincidence that this is happening on the golf course.

I found Saxon himself to be unsympathetic. While his anger at his ex-wife was occasionally amusing and made him more human, it was also unlikable. As was his treatment of his new girlfriend, Nancy (would he have been as cool if she had been younger than him rather than older?). Obviously not especially liking the protagonist makes it harder to get into the mystery.

Miles is a talented writer and the mystery definitely got me hooked so I am happy to recommend this novel--but I hope that Saxon gets a bit of a personality transplant before we see him again.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hole in One!, May 29, 2002

By 

Nancy L. Mehl "Author" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bermuda Grass (Hardcover)

Alan Saxon, a well known professional golfer, and past winner of the British Open, comes to Bermuda to assist in designing a golf course at an upscale resort. He wants to spend some time with his daughter, Lynette, on holiday from Oxford, but his plans are complicated through a friend Lynette brings with her. Jessica Hadlow is the spoiled, incorrigible daughter of a rich, international businessman. While Lynette and Jessica spend much of their time with two young men they've met at the resort, Alan deals with a string of continuous and disconcerting problems that plague the construction of the golf course. When the complications include murder, and the girls are kidnapped, Alan realizes that it's no longer about a game - someone is playing for keeps.

While Alan fights to keep his partner in Bermuda and the golf course project alive, his ex-wife flies out to join in the search for their daughter. Jessica's father, a decidedly unpleasant man, also comes to Bermuda. Balancing the kidnappers, his ex-wife, Jessica's angry father, his partner, an attractive woman he met just before the kidnapping, and the hotel management, becomes quite a challenge as Alan sorts through the available clues - hoping to discover a way to bring his daughter back alive.

BERMUDA GRASS is a very well written, engrossing novel. The characterizations are effective, giving the story a compelling sense of reality. The "golf" environment is exploited just enough to capture the reader's interest, but will not turn off those who are not involved in the game. The mystery aspect is handled masterfully. Miles presents several possibilities - teasing the reader with each one - and in the end, delivering a solid and satisfying conclusion.

I highly recommend BERMUDA GRASS.

2.0 out of 5 stars Marstonese dialogue, whining protagonist., March 21, 2011

By 

C. A. Rockwell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bermuda Grass (Paperback)

This author has also written books under the name Edward Marston and countless other pseudonyms. It irks me when an author can't stick to one name, but in this case it scarcely matters - the dialogue in his books always gives him away. His characters don't have natural conversations, rather they engage in clipped, stilted banter. In general, they all speak the same way, regardless of personality, educational level, ethnicity, class, etc. In this book, he does seem to be trying to improve -- his characters sometimes formulate long sentences, and he actually manages to give Mo a dialect! - but nevertheless, I'd barely read two pages when I realized this was another permutation of Marston & Co. Such unoriginality is boring and unappealing.

I also found the protagonist Alan Saxon unappealing. Such a whiner! The book opens with his whining about how his ex-wife had "murdered" him, yet even though Saxon is the narrator, it soon becomes apparent that she's a fairly normal person and that he's the jerk. The daughter's spoiled rich brat friend is also a great irritation, even without Saxon's whining commentary about her, but I guess we have to put up with her since she's a big part of the story.

Admittedly, this is not my type of story. I'm not interested in golf, nor in stories about corporate greed and crime, so the story itself did not make up for the irritations mentioned above. Irritations aside, it isn't a bad work at all, and I'm sure others would enjoy it, but it just wasn't to my taste.