The romantic element began very soon - barely when Olivia is off the plane; and a handsome stranger more or less picks her up despite all her internal misgiving which we read all about - none of the comments to herself deter her falling in with him on this sad journey to her dead mom's house in warm clime. I believed he was stunning but just not the situation ... and I confess I stopped about a third of the way through, not convinced. It could really just be that this is not my kinda' thing - but I will say that the writing is entirely lucid and professional! she know what she's doing.

Really enjoyed how descriptive author was in providing the beautiful background of St Thomas lanscape (and St John) throughout the book. It's a good mystery read.

THE EMPTY CHAIR:
Murder in the Caribbean
Penny Goetjen

My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️
Publisher: Secret Harbor Press
Publication Date November 15, 2016

SUMMARY
Olivia Benning travels to the Virgin Islands to settle affairs after receiving news that her mother has died in a boating an accident. Upon arrival she meets a handsome guy who comes to the rescue when her ride fails to show. Olivia soon discovers that the police have no record of her mother’s death or even an accident. Olivia desperately needs the truth even if she has to find it herself.

A bar brawl, a break-in, and her mother’s Caribbean bungalow ransacked. Can things get any worse at picturesque Magen’s Bay? Olivia search takes a sinister turn when a charming man claiming to be her mother’s lover is shot and she’s the prime suspect.

Entangled in the same dark web of crime that may have ensnared her mother, Olivia is low on cash, high on mistrust, yet must rely on the ruggedly handsome stranger who seems to surface when she’s most in need of saving, but is he her rescuer turned lover or her deadly foe?

REVIEW
THE EMPTY CHAIR is like riding on a roller coaster. The story has up and downs, and twists and turns, it’s fast and then it’s over, way to soon. An adrenaline pumping, heart pounding ride. Once you start it, it’s hard to put down. And you really don’t want it to be over.

The descriptive setting in the St Thomas, Virgin Islands was picturesque and idylic. Who wouldn’t want to go there! I felt as if I was riding in the blue jeep right next to Olivia, so afraid of going over the side of those narrow mountain roads. I would love to be able to sit in Olivia mom’s turquoise adirondack chair at Serenity Villa and absorb the stunning views of the bay and the ocean and feel the sultry heat from the August sun.

Olivia, a five foot two, blond dynamo has a knack for finding trouble. Or rather trouble seems to follow her from the minute she leaves the Cyril E. King airport. In the first forty-eight hours there’s a bar fight, a missing car, a strange fax and a visit to the police department that knows nothing about her mom’s disappearance and she is rescued by the handsome Colton not once, but twice!. The blue-eyed Colton seems to be everywhere just when Olivia needs him. He might be some kind of knight in shining armor, and don’t we all need one of those!

Thanks to Secret Harbor Press and Net Galley for providing a copy of THE EMPTY CHAIR in exchange for an honest review.

Couldn't finish this book, not for me at all! I've read better written, plotted and structured books. Characters seemed a bit one dimensional! Not my cup of tea at all sadly!!!!

Interesting premise to this book but bogged down in so many details it doesn't keep your interest. We don't need to read 3 pages of what some people looked like in a restaurant when their characters have nothing to do with the plot.

I really enjoyed this book. Olivia travels to the Virgin Islands where her mother owns a home after receiving a call that her mother has died in an accident on the island. When Olivia gets there she discovers that there is no body and no record of a recent boating accident. Is her mother alive? This is a very well done mystery with beautifully descriptive surroundings and suspense that builds throughout. The ending threw me for a loop and leaves open the possibility of a second book. I highly recommend this book!

I loved this mystery set in the beautiful Caribbean island of St. Thomas! When Olivia is summoned to the island after a mysterious phone call about her mother's demise, she assumes it will be simply a matter of taking care of paperwork and final affairs. What she hasn't planned for is a handsome stranger, a bar fight, dead bodies, and many secrets and lies. Set in an idyllic setting, the novel made me want to book a cruise (without the bodies of course)!