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From School Library Journal
YA-Christine Bennett, her husband Jack, and their nine-month-old son head out to New York's Fire Island for a vacation. Festivities for the island's Labor Day celebration end abruptly when the fire chief is murdered. Using Jack's status as a detective, the couple conduct their own investigation and come up with myriad contradictory leads. It's only after the second, seemingly unrelated death that the mystery moves to an exciting culmination. Drawing on the picturesque environment of Fire Island, Harris provides vivid descriptions of the sun, sand, and sea. The setting becomes important as the murders take place and the landscape becomes a major factor. Rounding out her characters with an economical use of words, Harris continuously feeds in more personal details as the story progresses and the major players emerge. The killer's identity and motive should come as a surprise to most readers.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
MURDER BURNS ON FIRE ISLAND

Island old-timers are stunned by the shooting death of Blue Harbor's popular fire chief, followed by the mysterious torching of his house. Rumors soon begin to flare up about the chief's rumored affairs with a vacationing lady lawyer and a girl half his age.

But when former nun (now sleuth) Christine Bennett and her police detective husband start asking questions, a thick fog of evasiveness closes in. For this is not the first fire to scorch Blue Harbor. Nor, Chris suspects, is it the first murder--as she soon discovers that the passions that turn good people bad run long and deep and deadly. . . .

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: Vacation venue + Chris Bennett/Lee Harris = crowd pleaser!, September 24, 2002 By  Gerald M. Bull "Jerry Bull" (Fairview, TN United States) - See all my reviews    In her tenth outing, Lee Harris gives us amateur sleuth, ex-nun Chris Bennett on vacation with husband Jack and 9-month old baby Eddie, on Fire Island, New York, over Labor Day. The action takes place in the little pedestrian-only town of Blue Harbor, where friend Melanie Gross has a house for two weeks her family suddenly can't use. At first, we get a lot of vivid and interesting descriptions of this unusual setting, a narrow, 32-mile island off the shore of Long Island. The vacation house is lovely, the town almost utopian, and a good time is unfolding for all. Alas, a fire burns down the fire chief's house, killing him in the process, soon ruled a murder. Chris sees a young woman hurrying away from the scene, which is all it takes to get her off and running to solve both this crime, and ultimately, one that took place many years earlier (her specialty). The remainder of the plot is the quizzing and interviewing and visiting of countless residents and suspects until all becomes clear near the end. Another murder mid-way through keeps up the suspense, and a mysterious lady lawyer adds more intrigue as the investigations proceed. Our only quibble might be that the perpetrator ultimately spills the beans just a little too voluntarily for real life. In sum, "Labor Day" is a fairly typical Harris outing - enjoyable, pleasant, and puzzling enough to entertain in much the same fashion as the nine books preceding it. If Harris has one thing going for her, it's dependability. Her plots have enough action to sustain the story but not enough to tire or overly tax the brain. We get to know the Bennett family more intimately as time passes, and are watching the baby develop before our eyes (wonder if