"Whitney Dagner is your tour guide to a Pacific paradise that's to die for--only to find it's a place people are also willing to kill for--in Gabby Allan's Much Ado About Nauticaling, first in the Whit and Whiskers Mystery series. After far too many years in the Los Angeles corporate world, Whitney Dagner has come home to Santa Catalina Island off the California coast to help her brother Nick run Nautically Yours, the family tourism business. Between gift shop shifts selling all manner of T-shirts and tchotchkes and keeping ...
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"Whitney Dagner is your tour guide to a Pacific paradise that's to die for--only to find it's a place people are also willing to kill for--in Gabby Allan's Much Ado About Nauticaling, first in the Whit and Whiskers Mystery series. After far too many years in the Los Angeles corporate world, Whitney Dagner has come home to Santa Catalina Island off the California coast to help her brother Nick run Nautically Yours, the family tourism business. Between gift shop shifts selling all manner of T-shirts and tchotchkes and keeping her feline Whiskers in fine fettle, she pilots the Sea Bounder, a glass bottom boat showing tourists the underwater sights of aquatic plants, marine life--and a murder victim? The self-proclaimed "Master of the Island," Jules Tisdale was a wealthy man with business interests throughout Catalina who was about to be honored as Person of the Year before someone strangled him with his own tie and tossed his body into the water. That someone appears to be Nick, who had a raw deal from Jules and no alibi the night of his murder. To clear her brother's name, Whit will have to investigate Jules' shady associates and not exactly grief-stricken family members--with the unwelcome help of Felix Ramirez, police diver and Whit's ex-boyfriend who's looking to rekindle their relationship"--
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Add this copy of Much ADO about Nauticaling to cart. $30.64, like new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Wheeler Publishing Large Print.
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Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 383 p. A Whit and Whiskers Mystery, 1. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of Much ADO about Nauticaling to cart. $30.95, new condition, Sold by GreatBookPrices rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Columbia, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Wheeler Publishing Large Print.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 383 p. A Whit and Whiskers Mystery, 1. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Much Ado about Nauticaling by Gabby Allan is a breezy cozy mystery set in Santa Catalina Island, California. Whitney Dagner has left the corporate world to return to her hometown to help her brother, Nick run the family business, Nautically Yours plus open her shop, Dame of the Sea. After a day filled with tours, Nick and Whitney are cleaning the boat when they see a body under the window in the bottom of boat. It is the Chamber of Commerce�s Person of the Year, Jules Tisdale who had been on the boat earlier in the evening. The police zero in on Nick as the guilty party. Whitney with help from ex-boyfriend, Felix Ramirez and her cuddly cat, Whiskers work to clear Nick�s name. Much Ado about Nauticaling is the debut of A Whit and Whiskers Mystery series. Whitney Dagner is a friendly main character who is loyal to her family and not afraid of hard work. I loved Whitney�s grandparents, Pops and Goldy. Pops is a darling while Goldy is over-the-top. She wears high heels (even with a bathing suit), loves to sunbathe, and leaves a trail of sand behind her wherever she goes. There are several secondary characters that include Felix and Whitney�s roommate, Maribel. I am sure we will learn more about these people in future books. The mystery is straightforward with several suspects and misdirection. The whodunit wrapped up quickly leaving a few loose ends. Whitney was lucky in the investigation because the people she needed to talk to seemed to cross her path at the right moment. Whitney needs to work on her investigation technique. To say she lacks subtlety is an understatement. A reader does need to suspend their disbelief at times while reading. Since the story is told in the first-person, we are subjected to Whitney�s ramblings thoughts. I did find it a bit much at times. I could see her thoughts spinning around like a kid on the teacup ride at Disney. Whiskers is a fun addition to the story, and he was helpful with the investigation. Much Ado about Nauticaling is a carefree cozy with a cuddly cat, a glass-bottom boat, treasure map trouble, a bothersome ex-beau, and straggling sand.
Lori
Aug 7, 2021
Series is Off To A Nice Start
Dollycas's Thoughts
In this first Whit and Whiskers Mystery, we meet Whitney Dagner, her cat Whiskers, and her brother Nick. She has left her high-pressure job and returned to Santa Catalina Island to help Nick in the family business Nautically Yours. Their business offers glass-bottom boat tours so tourists can view fantastic underwater sights. Whitney is also opening a gift shop selling all kinds of souvenir-type items, including treasure maps and puzzles. She is just getting her sea legs back when she looks through the glass bottom of the boat and sees a dead body. OMG, Jules Tisdale, the self-proclaimed "Master of the Island" is dead and it definitely was not due to natural causes. The police quickly decide Nick is their prime suspect. Whitney knows her brother is innocent, she just needs to prove it and she receives help from an unwanted source . . . her ex-boyfriend, Felix Ramirez. He not only wants to help her investigate, but he would also be really happy to give their relationship a second chance.
After reading this book, I want to plan a vacation to Santa Catalina. It sounds like an idyllic place sans the murder, of course. A tour in a glass-bottom boat, enjoying several restaurants, and relaxing on the beach sounds wonderful to me. The author does an excellent job of bringing her setting to life.
We are introduced to several characters in this story. In addition to Whitney and Nick, we meet their grandparents, Pops and Goldy. The kids visited their grandparents every summer while growing up and the place just feels like home. I love Goldy. She is a confident woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. The woman takes her wardrobe very seriously as well as her make-up. It is not unusual to see Goldy walking around town in a swimsuit, cover-up, and high heels so she can soak up the sunshine rays as often as she can. I would love her life. Pops is well suited to her. He brings the calm to hectic situations and knows how to handle his wife. They have left the business to Nick and Whitney but are there quickly to help in a pinch. We also meet Whitney's roommate, Maribel, and her ex, Felix but I think we have just scratched the surface of the charactersÃ?Æ'Ã?¢Ã?¢ââ?¬Å¡Ã?¬Ã?¢ââ?¬Å¾Ã?¢ pasts and current situations. The is a lot of room for character development in future books.
The mystery is pretty standard but boy, Whitney really needs to work on her investigative skills if she is going to shine as an amateur sleuth. She needs to be more focused. She is all over the place with her theories, and readers are treated to thoughts as she tries to bring the clues together to pin down the killer. There are several suspects and Nick isn't really a big help. I really like that her cat plays a key role throughout the story. The mystery had a nice slow build which I enjoyed but then the pace picked up and the ending felt a little rushed. It did leave some subplots and questions open making me excited for the next book in the series.
Much Ado about Nauticaling is setting this series off to a great start. I hope the main characters are more fleshed out as the series continues. I want to get to know them better.
