Beach reads and deadly deeds

Bestseller Brennan (the Quinn & Costa series) delivers a breezy standalone about a book-loving accountant who gets ensnared in a murder investigation. After years of dedication to her job at a New York City accounting firm, 29-year-old Mia Crawford is offered a partnership. To sweeten the deal, her employers insist she take a two-week, all-expenses-paid vacation to a private island in the Caribbean. All modest Mia wants is to curl up with a book and, at most, carry on a quick and casual fling. In the resort's gift shop, she spots an intriguing, water-damaged paperback on a table of books left behind by previous guests. After scooping it up, she notices messages scribbled in the margins that allude to some sort of criminal activity. When a guest's body washes up on the beach, Mia fears she's stumbled into something dangerous. As she investigates with the aid of her mysterious notes, she strikes up a romance with resort bartender Jason, and Brennan weaves in the personal dramas of other guests and employees. Some of the reveals are predictable, but Brennan smooths things over with plenty of beachy atmosphere and steamy sex. It's solid summertime fare. Agent: Daniel Conaway, Writers House. (June)

An idyllic island is the perfect setting for amour and murder. A brief prologue follows lovestruck Diana Harden as she secretly climbs to the clifftop home of Ethan Valentine, the object of her affection, and an anonymous figure sneaks up behind her and strangles her with her own scarf. Cut to workaholic accountant Mia Crawford, on her way to the Caribbean for her "nonnegotiable anniversary bonus" and angling for romance. Her first-person narration bubbles as she meets a large group of tourists, including NFL team owner Nelson Stockton and his wife, Anja, along with friendly couple David and Doug. A newspaper article about the missing Diana piques her interest, further stimulated when she overhears an isolated remark: "You have until Friday or you're dead." Mia begins her vacation project of meeting men at the Blue Dahlia beachside bar by flirting with dreamy head bartender Jason Mallory, whose daredevil escapades might be a red flag. But details of Diana's disappearance keep distracting Mia. The discovery of a book with writing in the margins and underlined passages proves to be a key clue. When Diana's corpse washes up on shore, Mia, who never leaves home without a book, can't help digging deeper. The addition of a literary quotation at the beginning of each chapter, a nod to Mia's bibliophilia, adds a dash of panache to this volume. Brennan's "romantic mystery" (as she describes it in the acknowledgments) is slight and shaggy and ebullient and largely set--where else?--on a beach. A tropical romp that folds a frothy romance into a whodunit. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.