Island Blues

Sabrina Dunsweeney left a teaching career in Cincinnati for the gentler clime of Comico Island in 2006's Island Intrigue, but island living has not yet proved entirely carefree for this amateur sleuth, whose new position as island ombudsman has her negotiating some delicate tourist-local relations in Mills's silly but fun follow-up. Both tourism and the death rate rise when an odd organization, Hummers International Inc., comes to Comico for a retreat. The Hummers "hear the Hum," which is the "voice of the universe," explains Hummers president Michael Siderius. But perhaps Hummer spokesman Gilbert Kane, found floating face down in the marina, heard too much. While the remaining Hummers fear for their lives-and their hearing-Sabrina works on cracking the case as well as a string of break-ins. Mills's eccentric, vaguely Southern resort community may tap into the escapist fantasies of people feeling trapped in humdrum lives and searching for a "patch of paradise." (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved