Linda Greenlaw’s forth Jane Bunker mystery hits bookstore shelves on Tuesday, June 26, 2018. I’ve been intrigued by Greenlaw since reading about her in Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm (1997) and have read several of her nonfiction books, beginning with her first, The Hungry Ocean (2000). Greenlaw was the first woman to captain a swordfish boat and now captains her own lobster boat in Maine. I was thrilled when she started writing mysteries and have read them all.
The Jane Bunker Series in chronological order:
- Slipknot 2007
- Fisherman’s Bend 2008
- Shiver Hitch 2017
- Bimini Twist 2018
Linda Greenlaw’s Bimini Twist is a perfect summer read. If you like the water, boats, and Maine—or have always wanted to visit—Greenlaw’s Jane Bunker series is an exciting way to experience it via armchair travel.
The action of Bimini Twist picks up just a few months after the end of Jane Bunker’s last adventure in Shiver Hitch. Jane’s younger brother—who is on the spectrum and not able to live on his own—has moved from Miami to live with his sister after losing his housing situation in Florida. They live in the fictional town of Green Haven, which is near the real-life tourist mecca of Bar Harbor. The elderly couple who are Jane’s landlords have become like family to her and welcome her brother into their home and lives. The couple runs a tourist shop called The Lobster Trappe, which sells every lobster-themed souvenir imaginable.
The big news in the small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business is that Jane has been invited to the annual Summer Solstice Soirée, hosted by one of the area’s most prominent families. Everyone is atwitter that she’s been invited. Everyone except Jane. Part of the comic relief of the story comes from well-meaning friends pressuring Jane to think about what she’s going to wear to the party. Deloris, the sheriff department’s dispatcher and cyber guru, says of Jane’s wardrobe, “You dress like a librarian. But drab. Like a prison librarian. But dated. Like an out-of-style, prison librarian.” Ouch.
Jane wears two hats. She’s a part-time deputy and a part-time insurance investigator. She spent most of her adult life in law enforcement working as a decorated detective fighting the war on drugs in Dade County, Florida, before making the move to Maine. She is no country bumpkin.
To read the rest of my review of Bimini Twist please click over to Criminal Element.
As a librarian, and one who knows a couple of prison librarians, I laughed out loud when reading the wardrobe quote.