The Last Ferry Out: A Novel

Slow Burn Tropical Mystery. If you're looking for balls to the wall action and suspense... this aint that book. If you're looking for a more meandering yet tense... yet also tropical and relaxed... tale... hey, you've found that!<br/><br/>This is one of those tropical tales that uses its setting particularly well and indeed really transports the reader to that more low-key vibe, particularly among the more off-the-beaten-path, smaller, non-touristy islands... where perhaps people are willing to kill to keep it that way. Here the story is more about the various expats who have been on the island for varying amounts of time from just a year or two to a few decades and the love they have for the tropical paradise they've created amongst themselves in their fairly tight nit community.<br/><br/>Then... you have the outsider. Both the woman who originally came... and the woman who comes later looking to find out what happened in her fiancée's final days. <br/><br/>In a community of expats, *everyone* has their secrets of the life they are escaping from, and *everyone* has reasons for wanting to be here rather than there. This is where the mystery really comes to bear, in sorting through the various histories and motivations of pretty well everyone on the island... including our main narrator who just got there and her fiancée.<br/><br/>Ultimately this is absolutely a book you come to more for the setting and stay for because maybe you want a touch more tense than a cozy mystery... but still want to be relaxed rather than thrilled, so you don't want to go into a full on horror tale either. This book strikes just that balance, and I could very easily see it being read widely by the very tourists so many of the characters herein absolutely despise.<br/><br/>Overall a fun read, if slow - indeed, it does read quite a bit slower than its slightly over 300 page length suggests, feeling like it is perhaps 100 pages or so longer than it actually is. And yet, that stunning setting. Maybe you want to feel like you're there longer than you actually are, anyway. If so, you're going to love this book.<br/><br/>Very much recommended.