Death in the Sunshine (The Retired Detectives Club Book 1)

I don't generally care about the person or tense of a book's narrator as I'm pretty flexible, but this is told in 3rd person present tense, which is unusual, and it took a little getting used to.The story is told in turns from the perspectives of the 4 investigators: Moira, Phillip, Lizzie & Rick. The investigation is combined with exposition of what led to their retirements & how they've been faring since.It's interesting, but I didn't find it quite as engaging I'd hoped. The crime itself was rather pedestrian & existed more to bring our 4 main characters together than as an intriguing puzzle for the reader. The puzzle is solved by the convenient finding of a cell phone that apparently isn't password protected - seriously?As is common in a first book setting up a series, it struggles to juggle pace & interest with the development of their world.The ending concludes this episode while providing the set up for the next, but I probably won't be returning for more.CONTENTA little over a dozen uses of the Lord's Name trivially with 5 as cursesModerate use of the most common swears, ie some 3 dozen d-mns & h-lls, a few uses of sh-t

rough start to this new series.I was really looking forward to this book/series about retired cops who find each other in a senior community in sunny Florida. It was funny that 3 of the 4 main characters were from the UK and all ended up at the same small place. That will probably figure into the storyline in following book(s). There are many British spellings used throughout the text, fyi. Under normal circumstances, I could read a book like this in 2 hours but not the case with “Death in Sunshine”Told in alternating POV’s between the four main characters, this cozy mystery struggles to gain its footing for a very long time. Character development is slow and immature. Sure, some key items are clearly being reserved for future volumes but there was barely enough information to manage relationships between the primaries and provide structure. My mind kept wandering and I even fell asleep a few times!All that sounds like 3* is too many and if there were nothing else, it would be. For all its shortcomings, the mystery is actually quite good. There’s no way to figure it out. You might get pieces of it but the actual “who done it” is undiscoverable. There are a LOT of threads for future books to delve into and 2 of the characters I’d like to know much better, (Moira & Rick).Certainly not a smashing success, imo, but left me willing to try the next book📚

and you'll have an idea of how this book goes. I have to admit it's a different approach on a procedural, having the main characters all be retired law enforcement in their 60's/70's, but still running around sleuthing. I was pulling for them bring a dog and to start travelling around in a van together, but alas that never happens.Once the novelty wears off though, things just plod along in this very average whodunnit mystery. The heroes are investigating a murder in their retirement community, which sounds far more interesting then it turns out to be. There's nothing particularly unlikeable about Moira, Lizzie, Phillip, and Rick, but there's nothing memorable about them either. The cops investigating the crime are portrayed as being so inept that they may as well have come from the Police Academy (The film series, not the actual academy). It really feels like this would be a fun little short story, but there's not enough material here to warrant a book this size, let alone a series. There's also a pretty unsatisfying ending, no doubt to push the readers into buying another installment.The other issues I have are with the writing style itself. It's third person, but in present tense which is just awkward to read. Constant switches between four different POVs make it very choppy, and although it's set in Florida, three of the four main characters are British so whenever it's from their POV the spelling and terms revert to the UK. Using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, torch instead of flashlight, etc. It just adds complications that don't need to be there. If 75% of your main characters are British, why not just set the book in the UK? The Florida setting adds nothing to the story when it's used this way. Can't recommend this.

I was hoping for a juicy murder mystery but instead I got a very boring book about retired cop wit PTSD. Constant repetitive hints that something happened to the main heroine in the past (not explaining what it was) made me annoyed instead of curious. I hate this technique. The action is moving very slowly, both in the present and in the past.I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because there are some pieces that read smoothly.Definitely not recommended

This has all the important parts of a good mystery. Characters. location, death.I liked Moira right away. It did seem odd that she thought of Central Florida as having all this space until she made the comparison to crowded London. Retired undercover detective. Someone lost. Police doc. It all seems serious.But retired and trying to learn to be and then all of a sudden in the middle of her routine – blood.It’s funny when Philip says he never should have hd to retire. He didn’t. She didn’t. They didn’t.It’s a good cast of characters.Sometimes it seems amazing when small towns of 900 people can keep murders and serial murders going somewhat endlessly for the octogenarian detective with the perfect bouffant hairdo. Central Florida seems like much riper territory. I am happy to see there is already a sequel.

Personally thought this book was terrible. Boring and it felt like author didn't keep the wording of the USA vs UK characters well at all.

UPDATE: This book is getting some very harsh reviews saying it has ripped off Richard Osman's series by people who have not even read this book, which is very unfair. I read a review copy some months ago and it is anything but a rip off. The only similarity is the retired characters, and surely a lot of people can relate to that? Anyway...MY REVIEW: I've loved Steph Broadribb's previous books and was excited about this one and I was not disappointed! A brilliantly plotted murder mystery set in the Florida sunshine, with a fab cast of characters - I can already imagine it as a TV series! Can't wait for the next one. Pure escapism with a dash of murder and lots of juicy secrets. Highly recommended.

Although I am only half way through this book I felt I needed to add some balance to the bad reviews focussing on comparing this with Richard Osman's pensioner sleuths two books. I have read both of his and this is different : it is the US, the protagonists are real ex detectives and the author is already well regarded in her field. The writing style is excellent and the character development moves along well as we wonder what are the secrets in Moira an Philips' pasts . The technique of having each chapter focus on the view of one of the characters is a well known device and there are a number of murder mystery writers who have focussed on similar settings. The book needs to be judged on its own merits and so far (I will finish it tomorrow) it is my opinion shaping up very well.

I quite enjoyed this book, it was a little more cosy than I usually go for, but I liked the setting, and the cast of characters. Not a bad first reads book, and a good choice I think. I don't know about the other book that some people are comparing it to, I don't like the author of the other book, and if the main thing it has in common with that book is retired characters, well there are a lot of older people on this planet, and it is good they are featured in books sometimes, it makes a change from all the books featuring young adults, that market is well catered to, so get over yourself if you don't like reading about older people, then don't do it !

Moira is a former British police officer who,trying to put the past behind her,moves to what is advertised as a safe and secure luxury retirement community in America, The Homestead. On finding the dead body of a young woman in the bloody water of the swimming pool with a small fortune in dollars floating around her Moira suspects The Homestead may not be quite as advertised. While hiding her own policing past from them Moira finds herself sucked into some amateur sleuthing with a group of 3 other retired police personnel, fellow Brits Phillip and Lizzie and rugged American Rick when local police don't appear to be overly interested.As their investigation goes on the intrepid oldies find themselves at risk as it becomes obvious that someone is not happy about their activities.While the stars of this book are retirees this is NOT any kind of Richard Osman copycat,all 4 have had former careers in various roles in the police and are experienced investigators and it's a "straight" crime novel without the humour and wry observations of Mr Osman's wonderful books.Much as I liked the idea I found the book pedestrian and the crime was solved in a way that hardly required the skills of Sherlock Holmes. The main characters didn't seem to engage with each other ,let alone the reader ,and I struggled with the notion of them being a team when quite often they didn't seem to like or trust each other. It felt as if it was building up to a big finale ,or an amazing twist,that didn't happen. There are back stories with all of the main characters and it ends very obviously leading up to the sequel, which I doubt I'll bother with.It's not a bad read and others might love it,I found it pedestrian and promising more than it delivered.

This is an interesting whodunit with a great sense of place and a multi-layered cast of characters with many secrets. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'm delighted that it will be part of a series, I'm now following the author and checking her other series.I received this as an Amazon 'First Read'.