Customer Reviews

G'Day to Die: A Passport to Peril Mystery

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am addicted to this series. The books are among my favorite cozies ever. I've re-read them countless times and they make me laugh every time I read them. Believe me when I say (type?) that I have been counting down the days until G'Day to Die was released.

Maddy Hunter does not disappoint in this latest adventure featuring spunky 30 year old Iowan tour escort Emily Andrew and her hometown senior citizens travel club. The group is on a tour of Australia and wouldn't you know it - Emily stumbles upon a dead body. With the help of her irrepressible Nana (who, as usual, is a member of the tour) and Nana's tour roommate Tilly, Emily launches into full blown investigation mode. Did the murder victim stumble upon a rare scientific find? Was he/she killed to keep that find a secret? Why have some of Nana's photographs of the Australian landscape gone missing? And what is going on with that mysterious man on the tour with the bad temper and his obsession with deadly bugs? Emily pursues these questions with her usual energy, self-effacing humor, and snark. And to really complicate things, Etienne and Duncan are on the tour as well and both are vigourously competing with each other (in a gentlemanly fashion) for Emily's heart. She does finally choose between them. Sorry, I'm not going to tell you whom she chooses. You'll have to get the book to find out!

This book has several major red herrings that will throw you completely off the path. You'll feel just like Emily: stumped. As in the other books, the scenes in which Emily suddenly pieces together the puzzle will get your heart pounding as well as the "unmasking" of the murderer. And, as in the other books, there are scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny. (and coming from me, that's really saying something, because I am not a demonstrative person, especially not while reading alone) The Iowa contingent is back in full force and they are the same resilient, punctual, bickering bunch we've come to love. Between their lovable cluelessness, Nana's savvy-yet-simple-down-home nature, and Emily's hilarious inner dialogue, this book will keep you thoroughly entertained. I devoured the book in two hours. It is a wonderful, fun cozy and I highly recommend it as well as the rest of the series.

Now I'll have to start counting down the days until book six is released. There's a preview of it at the back of G'Day to Die. Apparently, the group's next tour adventure takes place in Scandinavia!

I do recommend that you read this series in order; it especially helps when it comes to understanding Emily's history with Etienne and Duncan. Here is the order:

1. Alpine for You (tour of Switzerland)
2. Top O' the Mournin' (tour of Ireland)
3. Pasta Imperfect (tour of Italy)
4. Hula Done It? (Hawaiian cruise)
5. G'Day to Die (tour of Australia)

"G-Day to Die" is the fifth installment in the delightful series which features Iowa travel guide Emily Andrews, whose job is to escort a group of globe-trotting senior citizens from Windsor City, Iowa. This fun story follows the group on a tour of Australia, complete with visits to Austalian wineries, sighseeing along the Gold Coast Road, and visiting a sea lion refuge at a place called Kangaroo Island. The book opens with the sudden death of another traveller on the tour, botanist Claire Bellows, who collapses suddenly while visiting Port Campbell National Park. Initially, Claire's death appears to be caused by heat stroke, but Emily can't help but suspect that Claire's death is a murder. Emily can't seem to resist poking into Claire's death on her own, especially since it appears that the dead woman had stolen some of her grandmother Marion's Polaroid pictures of a rare plant minutes before she collapsed. Then when a second member of the tour group suddenly collapses while at a winery tour, Emily's suspicions are put on high alert. The mystery in this story is very well-crafted and certainly had me guessing about the outcome.

Emily and her group of wacky seniors enjoy visiting the sights of Australia, and author Hunter does a great job of describing the local sights. This story has a lot more romance in it than previous stories in this series, as both of Emily's beaus (Etienne Miceli and Duncan Lazarus) are along on the tour, and both are trying to get her to say "yes" to their marriage proposals.

"G'Day to Die" is a funny, entertaining read. Readers who haven't read the earlier stories in this series would be well-advised to read the previous stories first, though, especially to get the background on Emily's romantic interests, which will add to your enjoyment of this story.

`G'Day to Die' takes us to Australia were the young and sexy tour guide, Emily Andrews is leading her regular group of elderly Iowans on a tour of the land down under.
Right away a dead woman from another touring group is found. In the area of her body is a picture of the landscape that shows a flower that some believe has been extinct for millions of years. This flower could possibly unlock the mysteries of aging, diseases, and even baldness. At the same time, another story unfolds with an old lady and her son that are looking for a long lost twin sister of the old lady. The sudden death of the old lady plus previous death sends Emily down the road to suspicion of almost everyone. To complicate matters the two men who want to marry Emily, Etienne and Duncan, are on the tour and make total fools of themselves trying to get her to marry them.
The story has humor, murder, deadly critters that can kill in a heartbeat, and some real nutcase characters.

In this latest adventure in Maddy Hunter's Passport to Peril series, Emily Andrew is escorting a group of senior citizens, including her Nana, on a trip to Australia. Emily is hoping for a relaxing trip, but those hopes are shattered when one of the tour members is found dead. Nana had taken a picture of a rare plant and Emily is convinced that Claire Bellows found the plant and was murdered before she could tell anyone about her discovery. There are plenty of suspects for Emily to choose from and she begins snooping around. Emily also has other things on her mind, both Detective Etienne Miceli and tour director Duncan Lazarus claim to be in love with her and she needs to choose between the two of them. Add in another murder and Emily realizes this trip will be anything but peaceful!

"G'Day to Die" is a delightfully funny cozy mystery. Author Maddy Hunter has a nice sense of humor and word play. The ongoing plot line of Nana accidentally taking pictures of things like plants and animals that haven't been seen in years and are considered extinct was especially funny. As always, Hunter fills the book with slightly eccentric characters such as feuding couple Jake and Lola Silverthorn; mother and son Nora and Heath Acres; Conrad Carver who finds treasures in Nana's photos; photographer Guy Madelyn; and various members of a scientific conference. The Iowans are as funny as ever especially Bernice and her battles with various animals. Hunter has fun with the Australian accent but it does get to be a bit much and hard to read at times. While there are some funny scenes between Duncan and Etienne, I'm glad Hunter didn't stretch that plot line too far and had Emily choose between the two of them (long time readers probably won't be surprised at who Emily chooses). The mystery itself is okay, if a bit of a cheat at the end.

Fans of humorous cozy mysteries will enjoy not only "G'Day to Die" but the entire Passport to Peril series.

The is a fluffy, cozy mystery at its best. If you're a fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, you'll enjoy this one. It has eccentric, fun characters, red herrings, a non-stop plot, and plenty of humor. I would certainly recommend reading the rest of the series first (Alpine for You, Pasta Imperfect, Top O' the Mourning, and Hula Done It), but it's not strictly necessary.

Don't pick up this book if you only like high-brow prose, police procedurals, or serious plots. It's a very light, fun read, but nothing terribly substantial.

I learn about various travels by reading these books. This one was a tad confusing, but it was still very enjoyable, especially her travels throughout Australia. I also LOVE the people she travels with. They are more enjoyable than the plot itself. Her grandmother must have grown up with Stephanie Plum's grandmother! they are both hilarious. Enjoy.

Sometimes, you want to read a story that doesn't exercise your brain: a simple and fun cozy mystery that keeps your attention but can be read after an exhausting week at work. You've had _enough_ thinking; right now you want something lightweight and silly (without being stupid). G'Day to Die does a good (not awesome but good) job of fulfilling that role.

If you've read the earlier books in this series, you know that our heroine Emily is a miswesterner who is also the tour guide for a group of senior citizens (including her grandmother Nana). In every locale (from Switzerland to Hawaii), Emily seems to stumble across a body and have a mystery to solve. (Ostensibly, each book could stand alone, but I do recommend you read the books in order.) Here, the Iowans are visiting Australia, when Nana apparently takes a Polaroid of a long-extinct plant. And then someone on the tour dies...

It's difficult to be funny for several pages, and to put together a lighthearted murder mystery that keeps the reader guessing. It's even harder to do so for a series of books. I like the series and this book in particular, but they're beginning to show the strain. I put down this book twice to read something else... but then I *did* come back and finish it, so Maddy Hunter is still managing to get the job done.

Emily is a mixture of sensible and vapid, wryly funny and shallow. When she's funny, she can be _very_ funny. However, one of the irritating subplots in this book is that Emily's two beaus have come along on the tour, both hoping to win her heart; those relationships have never quite worked for me. It's fun to read about their sexual tensions, but even in a fluffy story I like to imagine that Emily would actually _talk_ with a man with whom she's considering spending the rest of her life. (Now, I could imagine a guy flying around the world for Nana. *She's* a hoot.)

Anyway: G'Day to Die is a fun little story, suitable for distraction during a plane trip. It's entertaining enough to make it worth the effort to continue reading in the series, despite a sometimes-uneven story flow.

Travel escort Emily Andrews is once again on tour, this time in Australia with her Senior center group that she knows from her Iowa hometown. Her grandmother is on the tour as are the two men who want to marry her, Swiss police inspector Etienne Miceli and tour director Duncan Lazarus. They travel together so that Emily can figure out her true feelings about both and decide whom she loves.

Of course a tour with Emily wouldn't be complete without a death. The body of botanist Claire Bellows is found by photographer Guy Madelyn as he and Emily are walking on a trail in Port Campbell National Park. A picture her grandmother took of a native plant thought to be extinct is found near the body. Emily wonders if Claire was looking at the plant and one of the other botanists on the Australian Adventures tour killed her to claim it for their company. She has plenty of suspects and when another tourist is killed by a drug Emily is sure that she was poisoned. Her natural inquisitiveness puts her in danger from a very determined killer who wants certain secrets to stay buried.

In G'DAY TO DIE the support cast is eccentric, argumentative, and colorful while adding much humor into a tension filled storyline. There is enough romance to appeal to fans of that genre as well as mystery readers who enjoy a good old fashioned mystery that has plenty of action but no violent scenes. Maddy Hunter provides an amusing yet tense amateur sleuth tale filled with daring exploits.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoy this series with our bumbling but heroic tour guide from Iowa. This one was one of the best I thought in plot and the many twists and turns the plot took. The characters that repeat each time in the senior citizen tour group are well drawn, consistent and identifiable. I have my own picture in my mind of each one. The touring part is explained a little better as well, although I have never been to Australia and I had been where the previous books were located. A romp with a bit of sizzle in the romantic area as well. A good read!

It is appalling, absolutely appalling, the hatchet job Ms. Hunter has done not only to this book but to Australians as well. This series started out fairly well (with Alpine to You) but the level of the writing and any sense of fun and humor are gone. Character generalizations and the awful stereotyping of Australians isn't funny - Emily has become so mean-spirited she's almost cruel. Her take on writing the Australian accent is abysmal and if she's ever been to Australia, you can't tell it from this book. I notice there hasn't been a new book added to this series since 2007 - I can only hope the author is taking the time to sharpen her writing skills and writing a book that has something positive about it.