G'Day to Die

Once again, Emily Andrew is escorting a group of senior citizens from Iowa, including her Nana, on a trip to Australia. When Nana takes a photo of what appears to be an extinct plant, life for the group goes topsy turvy once again. When Claire Bellows is found dead from the group, Emily is certain she found the plant and was murdered. Emily begins snooping around the myriad of suspects to find the killer. And there are many interesting characters on this trip, including Jake and Lola Silverthorn who seem to always be fighting, irritating Nora and her son Heath Acres, Conrad Carver who started everything with discovering the plant in Nana's photo, Guy Madelyn who is another photographer on this trip, and many members of a scientific conference. Then there's the whole Iowa tour group. They're entertaining on their own! Add to this Emily's two suitors, detective Etienne Miceli and tour director Duncan Lazarus, and you have a hilarious cozy mystery! She is supposed to be deciding between them, which is no easy feat. Can she find the killer and figure out which one is the love of her life without putting herself in danger or alienating them both? I love this series. I find myself laughing out loud every time I read one. Emily is such a fun character and the various Iowa senior citizens are a hoot. The hardest part for me is not laughing out loud when I'm reading in bed late at night and waking my husband! You don't have to read these in order, but the characters do group and evolve, so it helps to understand the love triangle in this one if you've read previous books. I highly recommend this book and the whole series! I hope there will be many more.

`G'Day to Die' takes us to Australia were the young and sexy tour guide, Emily Andrews is leading her regular group of elderly Iowans on a tour of the land down under. Right away a dead woman from another touring group is found. In the area of her body is a picture of the landscape that shows a flower that some believe has been extinct for millions of years. This flower could possibly unlock the mysteries of aging, diseases, and even baldness. At the same time, another story unfolds with an old lady and her son that are looking for a long lost twin sister of the old lady. The sudden death of the old lady plus previous death sends Emily down the road to suspicion of almost everyone. To complicate matters the two men who want to marry Emily, Etienne and Duncan, are on the tour and make total fools of themselves trying to get her to marry them. The story has humor, murder, deadly critters that can kill in a heartbeat, and some real nutcase characters.

"G-Day to Die" is the fifth installment in the delightful series which features Iowa travel guide Emily Andrews, whose job is to escort a group of globe-trotting senior citizens from Windsor City, Iowa. This fun story follows the group on a tour of Australia, complete with visits to Austalian wineries, sighseeing along the Gold Coast Road, and visiting a sea lion refuge at a place called Kangaroo Island. The book opens with the sudden death of another traveller on the tour, botanist Claire Bellows, who collapses suddenly while visiting Port Campbell National Park. Initially, Claire's death appears to be caused by heat stroke, but Emily can't help but suspect that Claire's death is a murder. Emily can't seem to resist poking into Claire's death on her own, especially since it appears that the dead woman had stolen some of her grandmother Marion's Polaroid pictures of a rare plant minutes before she collapsed. Then when a second member of the tour group suddenly collapses while at a winery tour, Emily's suspicions are put on high alert. The mystery in this story is very well-crafted and certainly had me guessing about the outcome. Emily and her group of wacky seniors enjoy visiting the sights of Australia, and author Hunter does a great job of describing the local sights. This story has a lot more romance in it than previous stories in this series, as both of Emily's beaus (Etienne Miceli and Duncan Lazarus) are along on the tour, and both are trying to get her to say "yes" to their marriage proposals. "G'Day to Die" is a funny, entertaining read. Readers who haven't read the earlier stories in this series would be well-advised to read the previous stories first, though, especially to get the background on Emily's romantic interests, which will add to your enjoyment of this story.

Travel escort Emily Andrews is once again on tour, this time in Australia with her Senior center group that she knows from her Iowa hometown. Her grandmother is on the tour as are the two men who want to marry her, Swiss police inspector Etienne Miceli and tour director Duncan Lazarus. They travel together so that Emily can figure out her true feelings about both and decide whom she loves. Of course a tour with Emily wouldn't be complete without a death. The body of botanist Claire Bellows is found by photographer Guy Madelyn as he and Emily are walking on a trail in Port Campbell National Park. A picture her grandmother took of a native plant thought to be extinct is found near the body. Emily wonders if Claire was looking at the plant and one of the other botanists on the Australian Adventures tour killed her to claim it for their company. She has plenty of suspects and when another tourist is killed by a drug Emily is sure that she was poisoned. Her natural inquisitiveness puts her in danger from a very determined killer who wants certain secrets to stay buried. In G'DAY TO DIE the support cast is eccentric, argumentative, and colorful while adding much humor into a tension filled storyline. There is enough romance to appeal to fans of that genre as well as mystery readers who enjoy a good old fashioned mystery that has plenty of action but no violent scenes. Maddy Hunter provides an amusing yet tense amateur sleuth tale filled with daring exploits. Harriet Klausner

I am addicted to this series. The books are among my favorite cozies ever. I've re-read them countless times and they make me laugh every time I read them. Believe me when I say (type?) that I have been counting down the days until G'Day to Die was released. Maddy Hunter does not disappoint in this latest adventure featuring spunky 30 year old Iowan tour escort Emily Andrew and her hometown senior citizens travel club. The group is on a tour of Australia and wouldn't you know it - Emily stumbles upon a dead body. With the help of her irrepressible Nana (who, as usual, is a member of the tour) and Nana's tour roommate Tilly, Emily launches into full blown investigation mode. Did the murder victim stumble upon a rare scientific find? Was he/she killed to keep that find a secret? Why have some of Nana's photographs of the Australian landscape gone missing? And what is going on with that mysterious man on the tour with the bad temper and his obsession with deadly bugs? Emily pursues these questions with her usual energy, self-effacing humor, and snark. And to really complicate things, Etienne and Duncan are on the tour as well and both are vigourously competing with each other (in a gentlemanly fashion) for Emily's heart. She does finally choose between them. Sorry, I'm not going to tell you whom she chooses. You'll have to get the book to find out! This book has several major red herrings that will throw you completely off the path. You'll feel just like Emily: stumped. As in the other books, the scenes in which Emily suddenly pieces together the puzzle will get your heart pounding as well as the "unmasking" of the murderer. And, as in the other books, there are scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny. (and coming from me, that's really saying something, because I am not a demonstrative person, especially not while reading alone) The Iowa contingent is back in full force and they are the same resilient, punctual, bickering bunch we've come to love. Between their lovable cluelessness, Nana's savvy-yet-simple-down-home nature, and Emily's hilarious inner dialogue, this book will keep you thoroughly entertained. I devoured the book in two hours. It is a wonderful, fun cozy and I highly recommend it as well as the rest of the series. Now I'll have to start counting down the days until book six is released. There's a preview of it at the back of G'Day to Die. Apparently, the group's next tour adventure takes place in Scandinavia! I do recommend that you read this series in order; it especially helps when it comes to understanding Emily's history with Etienne and Duncan. Here is the order: 1. Alpine for You (tour of Switzerland) 2. Top O' the Mournin' (tour of Ireland) 3. Pasta Imperfect (tour of Italy) 4. Hula Done It? (Hawaiian cruise) 5. G'Day to Die (tour of Australia)