Burned (Regan Reilly Mysteries, No. 8) [Mass Market Paperback]

Carol Higgins Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2006

New York Times bestselling author Carol Higgins Clark's trademark light touch, humor, and quirky characters make for another wonderfully unpredictable mystery. Say "Aloha" to an unforgettable Hawaiian adventure!

L.A.-based private detective Regan Reilly gets a call from her best gal pal, urging her to come to Hawaii for one last girls' weekend before Regan ties the knot with Jack "no relation" Reilly, and so she happily packs her bags.

At the Waikiki Waters Playground and Resort, the body of Dorinda Dawes, the hotel's gossipy PR woman, washes ashore wearing a valuable lei that once belonged to a Hawaiian princess and was stolen from a museum in Honolulu thirty years ago.

The resort manager doesn't believe that Dorinda drowned accidentally and persuades Regan to take on the case. The more she starts digging, the more danger she is in. Can Regan find out what really happened before it's too late for her and the other vacationers at the Waikiki Waters?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When the body of Dorinda Dawes washes ashore on the beach of Waikiki Waters, Will's life as general manager of the recently renovated resort takes yet another turn for the worse. Thankfully, Regan Reilly, noted L.A. investigator, booked a last-minute trip to this very vacation spot, so Will enlists her help. Although the police rule Dorinda's death an accident, Will can't shake the feeling that foul play was involved, particularly because Dorinda's gossip-mongering in the resort's monthly newsletter had incurred all sorts of ill will. And what about the rare shell lei, stolen from a Hawaiian museum 30 years ago, that was found around the victim's neck? Suspects abound, of course: Might Will be covering for his own misdeeds? Are certain members of an oddball group of travelers from the Northwest in cahoots? It's a silly plot with a formulaic arc, but what Clark (daughter of romantic suspense master Mary Higgins Clark) lacks in style, she makes up for in entertaining storytelling and likable characters. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Crime-solving with a humorous streak." -- The Raleigh News & Observer (NC)

"Regan Reilly is a humorous detective . . . [R]eminiscent of the 'Thin Man' stories." -- The Beverly Hills Courier

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743476662
• ISBN-13: 978-0743476669
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Bother, March 22, 2006

By 

Booklover "Librarian" (La Habra, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burned (Regan Reilly Mysteries, No. 8) (Hardcover)

I could find little to recommend about this book. Even the title barely made sense. If this book were food it would be a "bad carb," offering a high glycemic index with almost no nutritional value. The inept writng was peppered with more clichés "than you could shake a stick at," and the plot was silly and simplistic. The characters were flat and so poorly drawn that I found it impossible to make myself care about what happened to them. Dialog was banal. Example: "...Did you read it?" "Yes. It was great." "Yup. Good picture, huh?"

I struggled to read to the end, but that was not satisfying either. It was a very pat finish with too many disparate ends tied up in the last few paragraphs. I would not choose to read another book by this author.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Should be listed under Young Adult Fiction, July 28, 2005

By 

EdHopper "Painter" (Cary, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burned (Regan Reilly Mysteries, No. 8) (Hardcover)

While definately an improvement for this author in plot development, I really felt I was reading something like a Nancy Drew mystery. Definately done with this author -- I like my reading to be a little more intelligent.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Fun Regan Reilly Mystery, March 21, 2005

By 

D. Bell "Imzadi" (Olney, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Burned (Regan Reilly Mysteries, No. 8) (Hardcover)

Carol Higgins Clark has come up with another excellent Regan Reilly mystery, replete with nice young people in jeopardy and some very eccentric characters. I did miss her mother and father and her fiance, Jack (no relation) Reilly. It's a fun and fast read, especially enjoyable on a long car or plane trip.
The ending is a good one for all concerned, villains excluded. It's exactly what one wants and expects from Carol Higgins Clark.

That said, I must remark that, as a faithful viewer of the CSI and Law & Order franchises, I was appalled by the sloppiness of the police work. The crime should have been solved before Regan landed in Hawaii. A valuable piece of evidence, the lei, was returned to the museum instead of taken by the police to be processed. The victim's apartment was NOT sealed and probably hadn't even been searched. Regan found a valuable clue in plain sight and walked out with it with no trouble. Dorinda's cousin was free to dispose of the contents as he chose. This is so bad it's pathetic. Gil Grissom would be holding his head in sheer horror, and Detectives Fontana & Green would be in shock. Because of this gaping hole in the plot, I am subtracting a star.