"Honeysett’s chatty, first-person narration; his selfdeprecating humor; the Corfu frame; and details of art add to this cozy mystery, which will appeal to fans of Roderic Jeffries’ Inspector Alvarez series, set on the island of Majorca"
British author Helton's amusing fourth Chris Honeysett mystery (after 2008's Rainstone Fall) takes the bumbling PI and artist from cold, wet Bath to sunny Corfu, at the behest of a supermarket mogul worried about a valued employee, Kyla Biggs, who disappeared there while on holiday. Afraid to fly, Honeysett sets out in a dilapidated motor home with a stowaway cat, a postcard sent by Kyla from Corfu's Niko's Taverna, and Greek language tapes. Once on the island, Honeysett manages to locate fellow artist and friend Morva Lennox, who's living in a remote, abandoned village. Honeysett's aimless search for Kyla nets him a tail from someone in a blue Toyota, warnings from numerous sources, and increasingly weird and dangerous "accidents" at Morva's place. When lover Annis Jordan arrives and Honeysett finds Niko's Taverna, things heat up and the puzzling pieces fall into place in a dizzy, ditsy fashion that matches Honeysett's investigative techniques. (Jan.)
Tiny cups of coffee strong enough to pave potholes and glasses of cheap, terrible Greek red wine introduce a desultory private eye to life on Corfu. It's a cold, damp, penniless April in Bath when uninspired artist Chris Honeysett lands a windfall. As sole proprietor of Aqua Investigations, which he runs with his live-in gal pal, Annis, and her alternate boyfriend, Tim, Chris is asked by a major supermarket chain to locate missing employee Kyla Biggs. Would he mind leaving the awful weather to look for her in Corfu, where she was last spotted? A disreputable motor coach carries him off with his cat, Derringer, as stowaway. Many miles and several countries later, he winds up on a ferry to Corfu, where he picks up a tail while he's on the way to reacquaint himself with his artist friend Morva, perhaps cadge lodgings from her and, oh yes, find Kyla. Morva has a few problems herself: a snake in the kitchen, a tortoise with a candle strapped to its shell setting fire everywhere, a car cantilevered down the hillside headed straight for her. There's no sight of Kyla, though. Instead, Chris finds a bird-watcher and an armed guard wearing a vampire-printed T-shirt at the entrance to the Thalassa Organic Olive Oil Co-operative. His footsteps are dogged by a woman wearing gloves in the Mediterranean heat, someone else following her in turn. Annis and Tim arrive for a holiday, bringing more trouble and Ouzo hangovers. But eventually, all is straightened out, though you may never invest in expensive olive oil again. Who wouldn't want to spend a fortnight in Corfu with the droll Honeysett and his chums? Helton, who divides his writing time between two series, the noir (Four Below, 2012, etc.) and the wry (Rainstone Fall, 2008, etc.), is a great traveling companion.
