As a Special Constable, Teddy Creque is the only police presence on the remote, sun-drenched island of Anegada, nestled in the heart of the British Virgin Islands. In all his years on the job, Teddy has never considered the possibility that he might have to address an actual crime on his peaceful island. That is, until he receives a hysterical call about a dead man on the beach. Indeed, Teddy is shocked to discover Paul Kelliher, a biologist who traveled to the island every winter for research, lying dead on the sands of the island’s most remote beach, killed by a single shot to the head. And when the BVI’s “real police” task Teddy with informing Kelliher’s nearest kin of his death, Teddy makes an even more surprising discovery: there’s no record that Paul Kelliher ever existed. Suddenly, Teddy’s routine life is thrown into tumult as he tries to track a killer – against his boss’s wishes – while balancing his complicated family life, three other jobs, and the colorful characters populating the island around him.
SUN, SAND, MURDER is the winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award.
In the sequel to SUN, SAND, MURDER, Constable Teddy Creque investigates a murder committed with a most unusual weapon — a shark.
“Keyse-Walker effortlessly conveys the balmy charm of island life” — Publishers Weekly
“This sophomore effort is another winner with plenty of action, entertaining and appealing characters, and colorful depictions of island life. A solid read-alike of Agatha Christie’s A Caribbean Mystery and Bob Morris’s “Zack Chasteen” series” — Library Journal (Starred Review)
Constable Teddy Creque, the sole police officer on the tiny, sun-soaked island of Anegada, is used to weathering storms. So when Hurricane Leatha hits the Caribbean with brutal force, his main concern is keeping the island’s two-hundred residents safe.
Teddy expects the power to go out. He expects the phone lines to go down. But he doesn’t expect the radioed message from the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force headquarters, informing him of a dangerous escaped prisoner. Queen Ya-Ya is a practitioner of ancient Afro-Cuban rites – and rumor has it she can kill with magic.
Teddy doesn’t believe in magic, and when he easily recaptures the dignified, imposing Queen Ya-Ya, he doesn’t believe his prisoner is dangerous either. But when she mysteriously kills a man from inside her locked cell, before vanishing once more into the night, Teddy is forced to reconsider . . .
“The battle between rational, supernatural, and criminal provides a tropical treat like no other” — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
With its rum-soaked, revolutionary Caribbean setting, dark humour, glamorous femme fatales and chilling twists, Havana Highwire is crime noir at its finest
“Darkly atmospheric writing, an action-packed plot, plenty of suspense, and a sometimes-hapless hero caught between saving his own life and doing the right thing drive this outstanding, packs-a-punch thriller”- Booklist (Starred Review)
February 1939. Mamie Mason isn’t enthusiastic when Bert, her husband of thirty years, persuades her to join him on an African cruise. Bert might be pining for adventure, but Mamie’s perfectly content with her comfortable life in Hills Corners, Ohio.
But once the couple board the glamorous SS Columbus, Mamie has to admit – as much as it pains her – that Bert was right. Swimming in the pool, dancing under the stars, their own bedroom steward to serve their every whim . . . Mamie settles in and prepares to thoroughly enjoy all the sights that Africa has to offer, in the company of a motley collection of eccentric first-class passengers.
Then Mamie witnesses something shocking – and her vacation takes a twist that neither she nor Bert could ever have predicted. Far from home, with a killer in their midst, the couple’s only choice is to turn detective. But surrounded by Nazis, spies and passengers with secrets, how can they uncover the killer – enjoy their vacation of a lifetime – and make it back to Ohio alive?
Bert and Mamie Mason are the most entertaining detective couple since Nick and Nora Charles — Publishers Weekly
Constable Teddy Creque has to get to the bottom of a murder committed during a British royal reception in this lively and atmospheric mystery set in the sunny Caribbean.
When Constable Teddy Creque is assigned to the security detail at a grand reception on the little island of Tortola for Princess Portia and her husband Lord Sutherland, he’s prepared for a British royal night out. He’s less prepared for an evening of dreary small talk about bond prices and tax havens. But at least the event is going smoothly, he tells himself . . . That is, until it’s cut dramatically short by a shot ringing out from the direction of the garden.
Anxious that one of the royals is in danger, Teddy springs into action. He has to get the royal pair to safety, but first he has to find them. And they’re not the only ones missing – where is his superior, Deputy Commissioner Howard Lane?
Soon, in the depths of the tropical darkness, Teddy has his answer – and is confronted by his worst nightmare. Plunged into his most high-profile investigation yet, Teddy knows he has to solve this case fast . . . or heads will roll.
Reefs, Royals, Reckonings is the fourth novel in the Teddy Creque mystery by award-winning author John Keyse-Walker. Readers of traditional mysteries with tropical settings, lively characters and exciting plot twists will be thrilled.