"Intriguing mystery."

Scotia MacKinnen isn't quite sure a yoga retreat at a newly opened hotel is the answer to her needs. She's already pared down her life by living on her boat. After 20 years in law enforcement, three marriages, raising her daughter, and her latest love interest fading quickly from the picture, Scotia needs to do something to relax.

Scotia sails from San Juan Island to the neighboring Santa Maria Island in questionable weather, a little hesitant but open-minded enough to give the retreat a chance. She quickly finds herself in a quirky planned setting with several mysteriously behaving guests and employees of the retreat. In little time, someone from the retreat has an accident. Scotia, a private investigator, checks out the accident scene. The next day another guest accidentally dies. Were they really accidents, and are the two related?

Bad weather, lack of phone service and scared guests keep everyone on the island nervous, including Scotia. One of the island residents doesn't want the new owner of the hotel to succeed. Scotia finds herself working through her vacation to solve the mysteries surrounding the accidents, the dangerous resident and the sinister happenings on Santa Maria Island. While Scotia searches for answers, she hopes to find a resolution to her personal problems.

Written in first person, Ms. Duncan has penned an intriguing story using current issues I personally found interesting. Scotia is a fully explored character who convincingly draws the reader into her predicaments. THE LAVENDER BUTTERFLY MURDERS is sure to entertain.

Reviewed by Sabrina Marino
Posted July 10, 2004

Summary

When does a sojourn on a remote Pacific Northwest island become a race against time and a deadly assassin?

When Friday Harbor P. I. Scotia MacKinnon signs on for the Serenity and Light yoga retreat at the Dei Fiori Hotel on Santa Maria Island . . . and instead of practicing asanas and musing on readings from Rumi, she finds herself trapped in an ugly late spring storm, embroiled in a deadly game of hide-and-seek with the island's rustic inhabitants and a bevy of suspects that include a Venezuelan ex-patriot oil tycoon, a Santa Barbara talk show host, a Russian translator, a Los Angeles social worker with a penchant for exotic tattoos, and a cult of international assassins.