Sun, Sand, Murder

July 4, 2016
Keyse-Walker’s appealing debut, set in Anegada, the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands, won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award in 2015. Since the island has not had a murder since 1681, Teddy Creque, a special constable in the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, has no experience to draw on when Paul Kelliher, an American professor studying the local iguanas, is shot to death on a quiet beach. Creque’s rigid superior, Deputy Commissioner Howard Lane, reprimands Creque, who moved the body to a tent to protect it from the voracious crabs and gulls, for altering the crime scene. Creque, who gets nowhere when he tries to notify the victim’s next of kin, believes that Kelliher was involved in treasure hunting, but Lane is convinced drug traffic is more likely and calls in the Drug Enforcement Agency from the U.S. Creque, with his honor and job at stake, rises to the challenge of catching a killer, but he succeeds only at great personal cost in the surprise ending.

Starred review from July 1, 2016
Murder rocks the tiny Caribbean island of Anegada.Teddy Creque's life is full. By night, he takes care of the only source of electricity for the 200 souls who inhabit the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands. By day, he serves as Special Constable, Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, in charge of keeping the peace in The Settlement, Anegada's only town, as well as at the island's handful of hotels and restaurants. He's also the island's only customs officer, charged with meeting every ferry and aircraft that brings supplies and tourists in from Tortola, which is how he gets involved with Cat Wells, who pilots one of VI Birds' distinctive mango-yellow helicopters. His affair with Cat leaves him barely enough time to eat dinner with his wife, Icilda, and their children, Tamia and Kevin, before hurrying off to the power plant. But his schedule's about to get a whole lot more crowded. Anthony Wedderburn, known because of his dreadlocks and his impressive appetite for ganja as "De White Rasta," discovers professor Paul Kelliher, a herpetologist studying the habits of Anegada rock iguanas, shot dead in the sand at Spanish Camp. After reminding him that special constables don't really investigate crimes, Deputy Commissioner Howard Tuttle Lane details Teddy to notify Kelliher's next of kin. Teddy soon discovers that no one at Boston University has ever heard of Kelliher and that the address on his passport belongs to a vacant lot. He also realizes that if he doesn't investigate, no one will. Armed with what might be a treasure map, his administrator's ancient computer, and his own dogged curiosity, Teddy sets out to do what no special constable has done before: solve a crime. Spectacular as a Caribbean sunset, Keyse-Walker's debut is a well-paced puzzler no one should miss.

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August 1, 2016

Special Constable Teddy Creque isn't really a policeman; he just plays one on his island home of Anegada in the British Virgin Islands. He is tasked with reviewing what little crime exists on this remote outpost and sending quarterly briefings to his boss. He also holds down two other jobs. So when the body of Boston University herpetologist Paul Kellliher is discovered, everyone on the island is stunned. After Anthony Wedderburn, better known as "De White Rasta," is severely beaten while helping Teddy investigate Kelliher's death, the police administration on Tortuga is convinced drug running is the problem. In pressing his investigation, Teddy uncovers far more than he expected. VERDICT Winner of the 2015 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award, this debut novel features a beautiful Caribbean setting, vibrant characters, lively plotting and pacing, and a memorable villain who will surprise you.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2016
Murder is so rare on the Virgin Island of Anegadathe previous one occurred in 1681that it attracts a firestorm of attention. Anegada's Royal Virgin Island Police Force's longtime special constable Teddy Creque is reprimanded for moving the body (to protect it from further scavenging by crabs and seagulls) and summarily taken off the case. But he continues to look for the killer of Boston biologist Paul Kelliher, who was researching local iguanas. Teddy knows the island and its inhabitants, but even so, his probings lead only to more questions, first about Kelliher's identity and then about what he was really doing on the island, and finally about the code book found in his belongings. Matters heat up when a local character known as De White Rasta volunteers to break the code and is promptly assaulted and nearly killed. Meanwhile, Teddy attempts to assuage his guilt over an ill-advised affair that has endangered his 20-year marriage. A strong debut that vividly evokes its Caribbean locale, Keyse-Walker's tale is the winner of St. Martin's Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)