Judas Island

I just re-read Judas Island for the third time and heartily recommend it. It is an amazing story with a main character who is interesting, intelligent, resourceful, and human. Bay Tanner is a grown-up Nancy Drew...the capable, courageous Nancy; before the writers rewrote the books in the early 1960's...the Nancy that didn't need to be rescued by a male. The characters are so beautifully described that you can feel them come to life as the story unfolds. On this cold day in Ohio, I was transported to the beaches in South Carolina, the sun shining on the sand, sea breezes, and the "massive live oaks" just off the beach. I felt that I was Bay Tanner as I read... and I loved it!

Bay Tanner and her friend Erik Whiteside have started an investigation agency. Bay's background is in accounting and financial consulting. These skills still come in handy in investigations. Erik is great on the computer. Bay's father, The Judge, although confined to a wheelchair, often assists them. Bay returns home from Paris after the apparent collapse of her short-lived affair with Interpol agent Alain Darnay. Not long after returning, she discovers a rift has been wedged between The Judge and his housekeeper, Lavinia. With some information from Lavinia, Bay is trying to discover the truth about what has happened. In the meantime, her partner Erik calls about a new case. His old college drinking buddy, archaeologist Gray Palmer, has uncovered a grave and taken a bone. After hinting the bone may belong to a murder victim, Gray is found dead. Bay and Erik start investigating to find out whether his death is related and who the murder victim is. They hit lots of roadblocks along the way, especially from Gray's father. Gray Jr.'s girlfriend spurs them along, but Bay can't decide if she is telling them the complete truth. Before they uncover the truth, they put themselves in grave danger. This is the first Bay Tanner book I've read. It definitely won't be the last. It was terrific. I found myself constantly picking it up to read more! Bay has a lot of personal baggage and it is intertwined into the story in just the right way to keep you wanting more. I really like Bay. She is a believable protagonist. The relationships between characters are very well written, too. I love books set in the south. Set in South Carolina, this book is steeped in the south. Bay's knowledge of the area and people really comes to play in the solving of this mystery. This series is definitely a new favorite of mine. I highly recommend this book!

Bay Tanner enjoys being with her lover in France as he recuperates from an injury he got while helping her on a case. Their idyllic time together ends when Interpol recruits him for another assignment so Bay returns home to South Carolina, unwilling to put up with the fact that he might die on the job like her husband did. At home, Eric informs her that his friend, archeologist Gray Palmer, is working on uninhabited islands off the southeast coast and has found the remains of a dead body.He wants them to discover who the deceased is. Before they get deep into their investigation, Gray dies, supposedly in a boating accident. His girlfriend insists that Gray was murdered and the same people who killed him are after her. When a bone is Fed-Exed to Eric, they take it to an archeologist who tells them that it belonged to a black man buried for five decades. Gray's father hires them to find out if his son was murdered and then fires them in the same week. Bay and Erik refuse to stop as they are determined to find the island where the bones are burned, risking their life in the process.A Bay Tanner mystery is always fun to read because it is an exciting action thriller as well as a cerebral mystery. Readers will understand why Bay hides her heartache so no one can pity her. The plot is basically straight line but that doesn't mean the answers to the mystery are easy to solve because there are quite a few people who seek to stop Bay and Erik any way they can in Kathryn R. Wall's exciting amateur sleuth tale.Harriet Klausner