Sun, Sand, Murder

Special Constable Teddy Creque is the only police presence on his sun-drenched island in the British Virgin Islands. Crime has been non existent on Anegada and Teddy is happy with that status. In Sun, Sand, Murder by John Keyse-Walker, Teddy's life is about to turn upside down.

An hysterical phone calls sends Teddy to the beach to investigate a murder. When he arrives, he finds De White Rasta, a drug addled idler, nearby and the body of biologist Paul Kelliher baking in the sun. All around the body are holes dug in the sand.

Rather than leave the body exposed to the elements, Teddy drags it back to a nearby tent and returns to call in his superiors. When the British Virgin Islands Police Force deputy commissioner arrives to investigate the crime, Teddy is dismissed as non essential, especially after he discovers Teddy disturbed the scene of the crime.

Teddy has problems in his personal life as he has been having a blazing affair with a sultry helicopter

pilot named Cat Wells. She shuttles visitors to Anegada and occasionally stays on the island. Teddy knows this is a dangerous affair because Anegada is small island, but he persists. 

Relegated to useless and asked to track down next of kin, Teddy tries to find out more about Paul Kelliher. Kelliher had been coming to the island for five yeas, staying for part of the year and then leaving. He said he was a biologist from a university in Boston. As Teddy tries to trace Kelliher, he discovers he didn't exist and his address and identification were fake.

When the Joint Interagency Task Force South lands on Anegada with heavily armed, they are sure this island is a drug hotspot and Teddy is the drug king. Teddy worries about his job and his freedom and he doubles his efforts. He finds a notebook with what looks like code, and Teddy finds an unlikely ally, De White Rasta who it turns out is a well-educated, titled Englishman with a knack for codebreaking.

Sun, Sand, Murder is a well-written gripping mystery that kept me guessing throughout.