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jbarr5's review
5.0
Final Sail by Elaine Viets
Violet is hiring a husband/wife detective team, Phil and Helen so they can make sure her new step mother won't kill her father.
She plans for Helen to be ordained a minister so she can visit him in ICU. He's in a coma and has a massive heart attack.
Phil questions the housekeeper to get an idea of what he'll be up against when he applies for the job of estate manager-in charge of all the people that do the manual work.
Helen also now has a job on a luxury yacht as a stewardess. Violet's dad had married the one on the yacht previously and the captain found a tackle box of emeralds but doesn't know who they belonged to.
Hopes that by having Helen aboard she can hear things with the crew to figure the mystery out.
Wow the luxury on the yacht, having bathroom towels changed along with soaps after every use, the $40 bars.
Loved hearing of the luxuries and the very detailed descriptions of the mansion and yacht, rooms, clothes, landscaping, etc
Love this book and hope there is another in line, just wish it had recipes. The food sounds SO good.
Violet is hiring a husband/wife detective team, Phil and Helen so they can make sure her new step mother won't kill her father.
She plans for Helen to be ordained a minister so she can visit him in ICU. He's in a coma and has a massive heart attack.
Phil questions the housekeeper to get an idea of what he'll be up against when he applies for the job of estate manager-in charge of all the people that do the manual work.
Helen also now has a job on a luxury yacht as a stewardess. Violet's dad had married the one on the yacht previously and the captain found a tackle box of emeralds but doesn't know who they belonged to.
Hopes that by having Helen aboard she can hear things with the crew to figure the mystery out.
Wow the luxury on the yacht, having bathroom towels changed along with soaps after every use, the $40 bars.
Loved hearing of the luxuries and the very detailed descriptions of the mansion and yacht, rooms, clothes, landscaping, etc
Love this book and hope there is another in line, just wish it had recipes. The food sounds SO good.
librarianlinda82's review
5.0
Couldn't put it down and read it all today. I was hoping that Helen's big secret would finally be resolved in this book.
raemelle's review
Inconsistencies. Barely into the book, and they're already obvious:
Page 8:
Helen thinks to herself about Violet, "She was so eaten with hatred that she could not say her stepmother's name."
Page 17:
Phil, referring to Violet, says, "It's true she won't even say Blossom's name..."
Back in time to Page 6:
Violet: "... Blossom has reduced him to a thing on a machine..."
It looks to me like Violet does indeed say Blossom's name.
It's these little inconsistencies that bother me about these books. Why do I keep reading them? I don't know. Maybe it makes me feel better about my own writing.
While I'm at it. Why must the characters always describe the scene they're in through dialogue with other characters who aren't blind? Like in the last book when character described what another character was wearing. To that character. Or in this book when Violet tells Helen that the stepmother is "nearly your height - about five feet ten..." like Helen needs to be told how tall she is. I understand it's another way for the author to describe scenes in the book, but it's totally unnatural. Or like when her characters reiterate conversations they've been involved with, but quote these conversations as though they themselves are writing a novel with dialogue. People don't talk like that verbally! I don't say, "'The dog is missing,' John said sadly." I'd say, "John said the dog is missing", or something along those lines. A big pet peeve of mine is when authors forget how real people repeat conversations.
Page 8:
Helen thinks to herself about Violet, "She was so eaten with hatred that she could not say her stepmother's name."
Page 17:
Phil, referring to Violet, says, "It's true she won't even say Blossom's name..."
Back in time to Page 6:
Violet: "... Blossom has reduced him to a thing on a machine..."
It looks to me like Violet does indeed say Blossom's name.
It's these little inconsistencies that bother me about these books. Why do I keep reading them? I don't know. Maybe it makes me feel better about my own writing.
While I'm at it. Why must the characters always describe the scene they're in through dialogue with other characters who aren't blind? Like in the last book when character described what another character was wearing. To that character. Or in this book when Violet tells Helen that the stepmother is "nearly your height - about five feet ten..." like Helen needs to be told how tall she is. I understand it's another way for the author to describe scenes in the book, but it's totally unnatural. Or like when her characters reiterate conversations they've been involved with, but quote these conversations as though they themselves are writing a novel with dialogue. People don't talk like that verbally! I don't say, "'The dog is missing,' John said sadly." I'd say, "John said the dog is missing", or something along those lines. A big pet peeve of mine is when authors forget how real people repeat conversations.
comedywriter's review
4.0
I love this series! I've worked so many dead end jobs myself and Viets captures the lousiest moments perfectly - watching someone else go through it is hilarious! ( and we know Helen's gonna come out ok).
dollycas's review
5.0
Coronado Investigations is in demand. Helen and Phil are married and working together just not necessarily on the same case at the same time. Phil is trying to catch a young gold digger who may have killed her elderly spouse for his money. He will be using a variety of disguises to reel her in.
Helen starts out helping Phil but now she has her own case. She is hitting the high seas as a stewardess on an luxury yacht to try to catch a jewel smuggler. Sounds like a dream job right, but she has to be extra careful or she may end up swimming with the fishes.
Dollycas's Thoughts
I absolutely love this series. Cruising on a luxury yacht with Helen may just be the perfect escape if it wasn't for all the washing and ironing and cleaning toilets. What started out sounding fun was real work and then to track down a smuggler in her spare time made for a wild boat ride.
Phil with his hats and wigs posing as everything from Rastafarian to an air conditioning repairman to follow around the new Mrs. Zerling was a hoot and Helen got back from her voyage just in time to put herself back in the middle of the fun.
Elaine Viets never disappoints, she delivers mysteries that are fast paced and always entertaining! Helen and Phil make a heck of a team. Each edition tops the last and there is always that little trickle keeping us tied to Helen's past which always leaves the reader wanting more. I can't wait for my next adventure with the gang from The Coronado Tropics Apartments!
Helen starts out helping Phil but now she has her own case. She is hitting the high seas as a stewardess on an luxury yacht to try to catch a jewel smuggler. Sounds like a dream job right, but she has to be extra careful or she may end up swimming with the fishes.
Dollycas's Thoughts
I absolutely love this series. Cruising on a luxury yacht with Helen may just be the perfect escape if it wasn't for all the washing and ironing and cleaning toilets. What started out sounding fun was real work and then to track down a smuggler in her spare time made for a wild boat ride.
Phil with his hats and wigs posing as everything from Rastafarian to an air conditioning repairman to follow around the new Mrs. Zerling was a hoot and Helen got back from her voyage just in time to put herself back in the middle of the fun.
Elaine Viets never disappoints, she delivers mysteries that are fast paced and always entertaining! Helen and Phil make a heck of a team. Each edition tops the last and there is always that little trickle keeping us tied to Helen's past which always leaves the reader wanting more. I can't wait for my next adventure with the gang from The Coronado Tropics Apartments!
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