John Howard Reid
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Title: Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island
Genre: Mystery/Suspense Thriller
Pages: 200

Synopsis:

Miami police sergeant, Merryll Manning, and his girl-friend, Susan Alexis Devoro Ford, are among the paying guests at a mystery weekend, held in an old priory on an otherwise deserted island in the Florida Keys. The mystery soon turns real when one of the guests is actually murdered.

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Merryll Manning: Trapped On Mystery Island
by John Howard Reid
Review by Tracy Fabre

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This is the first of Reid’s series featuring police officer Merryll Manning, working out of Miami. He and his girlfriend Susan take part in a murder mystery weekend in an old Dominican priory on Cross Key Island. As you might expect, this being a mystery, one of the murders is the real deal, and the varied bunch of paying guests has to band together (while falling apart) to figure out who the real murderer is, and how to survive until help arrives.

The crew is varied, all of them colorful individuals. Susan herself is of interest because while Manning is definitely hooked on her, he’s also aware that she’s not exactly the most angelic of creatures. She’s much different than the typical cop’s girlfriend you’d expect to find in a mystery novel, and even Manning seems unsure how he puts up with her. Manning himself is an interesting guy: he’s a cop and knows how to read a scenario; he’s also intelligent and unafraid of debate. His theological debates with fellow guest Father Connor are rich in detail and a certain amount of passion on both sides. He’s not afraid to take on the other guests, to take charge, and even to throw a punch. He even manages a few jabs at the mainstream publishing industry.

The story moves quickly, and Reid does a great job of not allowing suspicion to settle on any one character for long. The scenery—the island and the priory itself—is well-detailed. I can well believe Reid personally researched this setting as well as the murder mystery weekend theme. I understand there are at least eleven more novels in this series, and I’ll be checking them out!

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