Excellent historical mystery, well written and highly entertaining.
I thoroughly enjoyed this well written story and had a lot of fun.
Great characters, solid mystery and vivid historical background.
Bill Pronzini is a master storyteller and the story kept me hooked.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Carpenter and Quincannon are consulting detectives who are engaged to marry in nineteenth century San Francisco. Quincannon pursues two shysters to Hawaii and Carpenter insists on accompanying him. The Paradise Affair unrolls with the two no goodnicks murdered and another man dead. Whodunit? Hardly a nice vacation in paradise. Good read and setting.

When Quincannon’s pursuit of two con men leads to Hawaii, Sabina talks him into turning the pursuit into a second honeymoon. On the voyage to Honolulu, they make the acquaintance of Hawaiian residents the Pritchards and become their guests once they reach Hawaii. While Quincannon tracks the elusive con men and tries to find out what kind of scam led them to Hawaii Sabina become involved in solving the locked door murder of their host’s next door neighbor.

This is another pleasant outing in a charming historical mystery series. Usually set in San Francisco, in this book we get a glimpse of late 19th century Hawaii. The characters of Quincannon and Sabina continue to evolve and the mystery is intriguing enough to hold one’s interest. A lovely afternoon’s light reading. I look forward to more in this series.

The Paradise Affair is filled with lush descriptions of Hawaii in 1898. In fact, it feels like you are reading a travel memoir from an earlier slower-paced era. There are also two mysteries to solve for the husband and wife private detective duo, Sabina and Tom Quincannon.

Overall, I liked, but didn’t love, this entry in the series. It was a bit too easy to solve the two mysteries within The Paradise Affair. However, the setting almost made up for it. 3 stars.

Thanks to Forge Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Paradise Affair is the ninth outing for husband and wife investigators Carpenter and Quincannon by the talented and capable Bill Pronzini. Released 26th Jan 2021 by Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint, it's a compact 176 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.

Most readers have their favorite authors/series. The must-reads.. and the ones which come highly anticipated. These books are on my list. They're consistently well written, always entertaining, cleverly plotted, well paced, and intricately put together. The story is told in alternating point of view (mostly alternating by chapters and clearly labeled in the chapter headings). This allows the author to incorporate two mysteries within the book and allow for independent denouements with a final wrap up at the end.

The exotic destination (Hawaii at the end of the 19th century) is well researched and based around a historical framework of period events and characters. The author is quite skilled at interweaving actual and fictional events seamlessly into an entertaining whole. Although the plot works fine as a standalone, there are some spoilers for earlier books in the series, so I do recommend them in order for completists.

Four stars. Solidly engaging and capably written. I'd recommend this one to fans of the private enquiry agent historical mystery genre, as well as previous fans of the series.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Paradise Affair by Bill Pronzoni is the latest in the Carpenter and Quincannon mystery series which takes place at the turn of the twentieth century, and takes place in San Francisco. This time the perps lead the two to Hawaii, ostensibly for their second honeymoon. While on the ship, they meet a couple that immediately become friends and invite them to stay in their guesthouse for the duration. Quicannon is skeptical but his lovely wife accepts and so off they go. Quincannon goes into town immediately to hire a local investigator to assist in locating the two criminals he is chasing with results the next day. When he visits the house they have rented, he discovers the body of one of them: an overdose. In his pocket there is a map. Whether an accident or murder, he has no idea, but sets off the find the other one, convinced more than ever that they are planning something big. His search takes him out of town. For how long he is uncertain. Never one to lie about, Sabina enjoys Hawaii until one night, hearing a ruckus next door, she discovers the man of the house has been killed...the door locked from the inside. She, of course, is able to solve the mystery and accuse the murderer. John, through many trials, manages to solve his crime as well, although the other criminal is dead, too. He does retrieve his client's wealth, which had been stolen. He was anxious to return to Sabina and to San Francisco.

I love this series. The two, Sabina Carpenter and John Quincannon, seem an unlikely pair, but they get on famously. They were good as partner in the business and they are better now that they are married. They have just the right amount of skepticism and the perfect amount of faith in one another. Their adventures are entertaining, as was John's to capture his prey. They are clever and persistent. They always finish the job, one way or another. Their interactions are entertaining and will make the reader smile. It was also fun to view Hawaii at this time in history. This is a terrific series. One I always look forward to reading.

I was invited to read a free ARC of The Paradise Affair by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #theparadiseaffair

Carpenter and Quincannon are on another case. This time they are Mr. & Mrs. Things have been quiet around the agency since their marriage, and on his most recent case John has not succeeded in apprehending two scoundrels who have absconded with bear bonds from a client of his. When he learns they have fled to the Hawaiian Islands, he believes his search is doomed. But Sabina suggests they travel to the Island Paradise and sells John on the beautiful weather and tropical breezes. When they arrive they are greeting with Kona weather - stifling heat and humidity. John learns the pair are, indeed, on the island and is determined to figure out who their next target will be to prevent the crime. John follows a lead to the Big Island, while Sabina remains behind only to be involved in the vase of a mysterious death. John and Sabina are excellent characters, especially Sabina as she was one of the first female Pinkerton agents, and always handles her cases with brains and not just brawn. Enjoyed this book very much.

When a client of the Agency is conned out of $2000 and a bunch of stock and bearer bonds, Quincannon is on the case. Having tracked down the Con Men, they find that they have taken ship to Hawaii. Carpenter and Quincannon decide that they will follow the Con Men and turn the trip into a second honeymoon.

There are two persistent questions-why would they go to Hawaii, and where are the stolen stocks and bonds. Quin makes contact with his old friends at Pinkerton to get a contact to deal with in Honolulu.
While on their voyage, they make friends with a couple who live on Oahu and are invited to stay at their guest cottage.

Quin's investigation leads him to the Big Island where the Con Men are involved with the Scion of a large cattle ranch. Quin is confused as to why this Cattleman would be a 'mark' for the Con Men. There by is the mystery.

historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, Hawaii, private-investigators, murder, murder-investigation, swindles****

Not an unbiased review as I really like the work of Bill Pronzini. This is one of an interrelated series but, other than the recent wedding between John Quincannon and Sabina Carpenter of their investigative agency, there is nothing to make it a problem for a reader to just hop in with any of the series. Quincannon is avidly on the trail of a pair of hucksters from California who absconded with a pile of stock certificates and bearer bonds and have moved on to pull another scheme in Hawaii. Once there, the Sabina falls into a case on her own so there are actually two interesting mysteries being solved. The sleuthing is always good, the twists and red herrings exciting, and the characters fun.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Macmillan-Tor/Forge Books via NetGalley.

"Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini’s next historical mystery The Paradise Affair, perfect for fans of Peaky Blinders and The Alienist.

Quincannon’s pursuit of two con men who have absconded to Hawaii with a considerable sum of his employer’s assets dovetails nicely with Sabina’s vision of a second honeymoon.

But neither is wont to stay out of trouble, and Sabina inadvertently becomes involved in a locked room/dying message murder in Honolulu."

I don't really connect this book's bowler hats aesthetic with Hawaii... but I'm game!

I first want to thank NetGalley for allowing me an early release chance to read "The Paradise Affair". I love Bill Pronzini and enjoy pretty much everything he writes ...the first Carpenter and Quincannon book I read some time back was good but didn't capture me like the "Nameless" series....so when I signed up for this one I did so with a little trepidation...but I have to say it exceeded my expectations...the book had the main story and a side story so both main characters were in action while not exactly together...The story took a few quick turns which were not expected and the characters were all very well developed. I want to visit Hawaii now....

I have added my review to "Goodreads" at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3717186793

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me a copy of this book for this honest review.

John Quincannon and Sabina Carpenter are back in The Paradise Affair, the 9th book in the late 1800’s series originally written by the husband-wife team of Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller but now written just by Bill Pronzini. Sabina and John are still working together in their private detective agency, although now as a married couple.

John is in his usual San Francisco area trying to find two criminals to get the bonds they stole from his client, when they escape before he can find them. He finds out they have left on a boat for Hawaii (not yet a state of course). After discussing with Sabina and his client, they both decide to travel to Hawaii, John’s trip paid by the client and Sabina’s from their money so they could enjoy some time alone in a second honeymoon. On the trip, they meet the Pritchards, some local Americans who live in Hawaii and who offer them a place to stay. Although Quincannon will always find something to complain about, this arrangement works well for both of them. He’s able to check into the criminals, while Sabina gets some time to relax and enjoy the area (although the weather does not always cooperate).

While John is out investigating, Sabina ends up getting her own opportunity to solve a crime when a neighbor is found dead in what appears to be a suicide. The dead man’s nephew doesn’t think his uncle would do it and also is concerned he won’t get his life insurance payment, so he asks Sabina to look into this locked room mystery. She’s only too happy to help out and use her detective skills.

This is the third book I’ve read in this series, not counting the earlier books and short stories which I’ve also read. I’ve been a huge fan of Bill Pronzini’s books and stories and enjoy these Carpenter and Quincannon stories but not as much as his Nameless and other books. (I’ve read all of the Nameless book but the last which I’ve been putting off in hopes that it’s not really the last.) These Carpenter and Quincannon books are enjoyable, not just for the fun and interesting stories about the main characters, but also for learning more about the history of people and area of San Francisco, and in this book, Hawaii during the late 1800’s.

This review was done for Historical Novels Review Magazine, and per their policy, I have to wait until the review is published in February before I can submit it. When the review is published, I will update it here and put it on social media.

This is book nine in the series of stories about the Carpenter (Sabina) and Quincannon (John), Professional Detective Services out of San Francisco in the 1890s. This was my first reading in this series. Quincannon has been working a case where the client has been robbed of cash, stocks and bonds by a team of confidence men and he is determined to recover the property of his client and see the two men in prison. His investigation leads him to a steamship line where he discovers his quarry has set sail for Hawaii. Sabina convinces their client to pay for John to book passage on a steamer for Hawaii and she goes along with him on a sort of vacation/second honeymoon. So the "paradise" in the title is Hawaii, but it doesn't completely live up to that name.

I don't know if it is common with this series but for a very long time not much happened with regard to John and the swindlers. There is a lot of "telling" because there really isn't much to "show" unless you are really interested in the mundane actions of preparing for a week long ocean voyage and the circumstances of the sailing and arrival. Toward the end of the book all the physical action takes place so if you are liking what you are reading just hang on, a resolution is coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan - Tor/Forge Books for an e-galley of this novel.

I always enjoy Mr. Pronzini's work, this was a great mystery read with great characters and a plot that leaves you guessing. I look forward to more from the author.

I've read quite a few of Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective novels, and a western, and loved every one. This was my first with the Carpenter and Quincannon novels, and it was just as good. Period mystery, with great pacing and characters. Couldn't put it down, and almost read it all in one sitting. Highly recommend.