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Sherri Travis is a bartender in Jacaranda, Florida; she married above her (or so her mother-in-law believes). Sherri and Jimmy are separated. She can't resist him and she knows she can't live with him and his incredibly bad habits. We all know women like this. When the police tell her that Jimmy died when his boat exploded, Sherri doesn't believe them. She is convinced he either planned the explosion or took advantage of it to disappear. Jimmy's always got a scrape or two in the offing that he could use to get away from. Sherri starts digging into Jimmy's death, and his activities around Jacaranda just before he died. This is, as we all know, not something she should be doing. First of all, she's a suspect because there's this enormous life insurance policy on Jimmy and she gets the money. The police aren't fond of suspects investigating the crime for which they are suspected. Then there are the folks who weren't happy with Jimmy. There are several of those, for as many reasons as there are folks. Jimmy played fast and loose in more than one area of his life. Sherri knows lots of people in Jacaranda, since pretty much everyone comes into the Sunset Bar and Grill somewhere along the line, so it's easy for her to ask lots of questions. Sometimes people don't like this, and there are repercussions. Smallman has written an enjoyable mystery. Her plotting is quite good. Her depictions of the various sides of Florida, both in terms of physical setting and social strata, seem very realistic. In general, her characters behave like real people. My only real beef with MARGARITA NIGHTS is Sherri herself. I just really don't understand women who can't separate incredible sex from the rest of a relationship. It's quite possible to have the former without the latter, as men have known for eons. It may not be socially "nice," but it's possible. Sherri just can't or won't accept this, and so I just wanted to slap her upside the head. If that trait doesn't bother you in a protagonist, this was a pretty darn entertaining read.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, February 2010
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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