Murdered by Nature

May 28, 2012
Jeffries, who’s been turning out tart, snappy mysteries set in Majorca since 1974, shows no sign of losing steam in the 36th entry in his Inspector Alvarez series (after 2011’s Murder, Majorcan Style). When the body of a man, eventually identified as English tourist Colin Kerr, surfaces in the bay amid indications that he didn’t drown, Alvarez suspects drug trafficking has something to do with Kerr’s demise. Alvarez also wonders whether Kerr’s death is somehow related to that of an affluent Englishman, Charles Ashton, who recently perished unexpectedly after surviving the car crash that killed his wife. Alvarez’s cantankerous boss, Superior Chief Salas, who’s supposed to be on vacation, phones to criticize the inspector’s every investigative move. While Alvarez lacks the charisma of other Mediterranean detectives such as Andrea Camilleri’s Salvo Montalbano, he’s affable enough to keep readers solidly in his corner.

June 15, 2012
Why is Enrique Alvarez's clearance rate the lowest in Majorca? Maybe it's because the homicide rate is so stratospheric. Things couldn't be more idyllic for Inspector Alvarez. A new alcohol tax initiative has been defeated, the weather is warm for October and his nemesis, Superior Chief Salas, is on vacation. His satisfaction marks a sad contrast with the travails of Laura Ashton. First, her husband Charles has been drowned while the two of them were sailing his yacht, then a second body that washes ashore is identified as that of Colin Kerr, a mysterious visitor to the Son Drago, the Ashtons' villa. Worse, a postmortem exam indicates that Kerr didn't drown but was poisoned by prussic acid. Solicitously reluctant to intrude on the grief of a new widow who'd served as her wealthy husband's nurse before she married him, Alvarez (Murder, Majorcan Style, 2011, etc.) can't help noticing that the grounds of Son Drago are studded with almond trees whose fruit could easily have yielded the poison that killed Kerr. Questions abound. Why would an unattached visitor to the island have rented a marginal cottage for a month? What connected Charles Ashton to his downscale visitor? What are the terms of Ashton's will, and why are both his servants and his wife so clearly uneasy about the disposition of his estate? When will Alvarez's cousin Dolores stop nagging her husband and stick to cooking the ambrosial fare that keeps her extended family on an even keel? Slight but charming as ever, with an unusually tart conclusion that insures that Alvarez's well-earned reputation for incompetence will continue undimmed.

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May 1, 2012
In another winning entry in Jeffries' long-running series featuring beleaguered Mallorcan detective Enrique Alvarez, Alvarez makes the mistake of thinking life will be a bit easier now that his demanding and irascible boss, Superior Chief Salas, is on vacation. But no such luck. Almost as soon as Salas has left, the body of a man is found floating in the bay. It's clear it is probably that of one of the thousands of tourists who visit the island each year, but since it carries no identification, finding out who the man was will be a challenging task, likely to require copious amounts of Alvarez's favorite cognac before a solution is reached. The main appeal of the series is its overall ambience, created by a mix of a quirky but lovable character, the allure of Mallorca, the mouth-watering recipes Alvarez's sister prepares, and the long-running battles between Alvarez and his superiors. All those elements are in place here, but there's also a genuinely clever plot to challenge the dumb like a fox detective. A definite winner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)