Who Killed Swami Schwartz?

By Nora Charles

     Kate Kennedy’s detective husband Charlie never had the chance to enjoy his retirement condo; he dropped dead signing the agreement. But his widow Kate lives there, and has many years of being a detective’s wife to fall back on when the going gets tough. She discovered that living in South Florida was murder in Death With An Ocean View and now gets embroiled once again.

   Swami Schwartz is the smooth-talking founder of the Palmetto Beach Yoga Institute which attracts many seniors like Kate for its mind and body sessions. When he dies of cyanide poisoning at a dinner, Kate is keen to find out whodunit, as well as trying to make sure that her best friend Marlene’s computer dating choice isn’t a weirdo.

   Now that the reader has met all the main characters in this series, the real fun can begin, and this is an entertaining romp with an intriguing plot. There is something loveable about Marlene, and something fascinating about Mary Frances, the dancing ex-nun, that made me want to read more. Put this together with the more organized and conventional Kate who acts as a foil to her larger-than-life companions and you have an engaging set of characters to hang a story on. The plot itself had me guessing and I certainly didn’t come up with the correct solution. This is a tautly-plotted book of modest length, so no moans about sagging middle sections. I look forward to seeing how this entertaining series goes along. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, I suspect the lively characters will increase in interest value as we find out more about them.