Moira, Lizzie, Phillip, and Rick encountered a very tight-lipped and close-mouthed group of individuals, which made their investigation most difficult. The inquiries had hit stagnant mode, and the police investigators seemed inept and corrupted. The going was tough for the ex-law enforcers, but they didn’t give up even when the dirty secrets surfaces and murky waters surrounded their personal lives.

The Retired Detectives must determine whether realtor Jessie Beckton jumped or was murdered when she plunged to her death from the penthouse suite of the Shimmering Sands retirement community. And just when they think they have it figured all out a second victim turns up.

This is a great series and has an entertaining story. The mystery element is solid and keeps a person hooked.

Death On The... is by far the best new crime fiction procedural series to have been published in the past few years and this latest instalment confirms it. The author has brought together a cast of characters that is as compelling as the crimes they solve. This one sees them investigating the death of a realtor at a luxury beachside complex and it is testament to the author's intricate plotting and skilfully placed red herrings that I didn't guess who the antagonist was. Alongside the crimes are the back story arcs of the four retired detectives, which are compelling in their own right. I'm looking forward to seeing how their stories pan out as the series progresses, particularly Moira's.

The newest "Retired Detectives" book was a great read. Not _really_ a traditional mystery, this one has a lot of action and definitely more in-depth character growth. The plot kept my attention throughout. Well developed and the final chapter ramps up for the next in the series. Recommended!

I love this series and this is another gripping and entertaining story. A solid mystery that kept me hooked and guessing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Death on the Beach, by Steph Broadribb, is an action packed murder mystery with plenty of intrigue to go around. The Retired Detectives are a fun bunch that keep you guessing, all the way through the book. I can't wait to see more books with these characters.
Shimmering Sands retirement community is being touted as beachfront heaven, that is until after Jessie, a young realtor, is found deceased after apparently falling from a penthouse suite. The police quickly determine that it's an apparent suicide but her parents strongly disagree. So they call in the Retired Detectives. The first look at the scene immediately tells them that Jessie was killed. Now they just have to find all the evidence to prove it.

This is book three in the retired detectives club and while I still haven't figured out what on earth made all these detectives choose to retire to the same place, I love them!

Delightfully entertaining, and will keep you guessing!

Getting to know the background of the continuing characters from the previous two books have made this an even more enjoyable police procedural. Of course, the police are all retired and former law enforcement and are using their investigative skills to solve crimes. Jessie Beckton is young and successful when her life ends in tragedy. Her death is listed as suicide, but her parents know that she would never have committed suicide. The Retired Detectives Club has a new case. Moira and Rick have become close and along with Lizzie and Phillip are eager to begin. They search through what little evidence was in the file as the detective was eager to close the case. Lizzie immediately sees evidence that Jessie was murdered as they begin to question those who knew her. Her abusive ex, those involved in the sometimes-ruthless world real estate and a building manager who isn’t able to provide them with any information about the hotel or security. When another woman is murdered, it is more imperative than ever that the club find the killer before another life is lost. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

Death on the beach is the third title in The Retired Detectives Club series and I think it’s the best one yet each book improves on the previous one.
Jessie falls to her death from a penthouse suite and the death is ruled suicide, her parents don’t believe this and can’t accept it so ask for the retired detectives help.
Rick , Moira , Lizzie and Philip makes up the retired detective club they are former police officers and Lizzie is a former CSI worker who are not quite ready to full embrace retirement .
I like the dynamic between the characters and I felt invested in them . The setting is in a warm and sunny place and that always helps to lift the mood for me too .
Although it’s not a full on hard hitting crime series I wouldn’t put the series in a cosy mystery genre either it’s somewhere in between.
The writing is easy to read and like the chapters being a single persons narrative, at the beginning of the series I have found it difficult to get along with but now it’s what makes the series for me.
In each chapter we learn more personal information about the individual and realise this is what makes them who they are .
This story left us with a cliff hanger and I can’t wait to read in the book in the series .
Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK.

When realtor Jessie Beckton falls to her death from an 8th floor apartment she is trying to sell it is initially ruled as a suicide. However, her parents can’t believe she would take her own life and hire the Retired Detectives Club to investigate.
This is my first outing with this band of retired investigators, and it was clear it would have helped if I had read the two previous stories so that the characters bedded in more easily. However, all in all, I enjoyed the story. The characterisation was good, and the plot had plenty of twists to keep Moira, Rick, Lizzie and Philip occupied. A slight departure from my usual reads but interesting and entertaining, nevertheless.
My thanks to Steph Broadribb, Amazon and Netgalley for an ARC of Death on the Beach in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this cozy mystery prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the book and its characters. This is another situation where I haven’t read #1 or #2, but read this independently and it was very good - but i think i would have benefited from reading the prior 2. The main characters that make up the Retired Detectives Club are Moira Flynn, a retired undercover agent, Rick Denver, ex-DEA agent, and husband and wife Phillip Sweetman (a British ex-detective chief inspector )and Lizzie Sweetman (British ex CSI). They all live in a retirement community called The Homestead in Florida and being slightly bored with retirement, join together to solve crimes.

Jessie Beckton is a local real estate at Beachseekers. Her boss is Sindee McGillis. Sindee was supposed to be showing a penthouse apartment at Shimmering Sands Resort but asked Jessie to go in her place as something had come up. Jessie is excited about the opportunity – her first to show such a luxury property.

When Jessie’s body is found below the balcony, the local police decide that it was a suicide as she had ostensibly been there alone. Jessie’s father, Jim, isn’t buying that and wants someone outside of the local police who he felt prejudged the situation to investigate what happened. Once on the scene, it becomes clear that this was no suicide and they need to figure out what happened and why the police were so quick to write this off as a suicide.

What I liked: Good pace. A few speedbumps for the characters that leave them distracted but still intent on working together to figure this out. Multiple suspects that must be eliminated and one surprise suspect.

A must for cosy Murder mystery readers and lovers of the Marlow and Thursday Murder Club series’.
In this the 3rd offering, the retired detectives investigate the death of realtor Jessie Beckton. Did she jump or fall or was she pushed from the balcony of the penthouse she was selling at the Shimmering Sands Resort. I hope there’s a 4th book on the horizon 😊

Another story for the Retired Detectives Club! I love this crew of retired police that investigate crimes. They are back but headed to the beach this time.

I thought this was a good mystery. I wasn't sure who the killer was until pretty close to the reveal so good on the author. These folks are not private investigators but still investigate crimes. Not sure how much that would actually work in the real world, but this is fiction, right? The mix of character's lives stories and them working the case was a good balance. Each character has their own stuff going on in life (except maybe Lizzie, her thing is Philip's thing). We did get a setup for another book especially with Moira's character's storyline.

I liked the book. I'm giving 3.5 stars. As I've mentioned in my reviews for the past stories in this series, I feel like sometimes the characters seem immature for their ages. Like when Philip is being his usual, commanding self, Moira tends to have immature thoughts such as (paraphrasing) how dare he act like the boss of this group?

Overall it was enjoyable as are the others in the series!

Death on the Beach is the third book in the Retired Detectives Club series, and it sees the team travelling to another retirement village thanks to their reputation. When realtor Jessie Beckton falls to her death from an 8th floor apartment she is trying to sell it is initially ruled a suicide her parents contact the retired detectives to do their own investigation as they do not believe their daughter would end her own life. As ever they are met with resistance in their investigations, and they find they have more than one potential suspect. When Jessie’s boss is later killed they are left stumped as to who is behind the killings and what their motives are.
Rick, Moira, Liz and Phillip are back doing what they love to do most, investigating a murder and trying to solve a case that the police failed to do. After events in the second book, Liz and Phillip do seem to have their marriage back on track however there is clearly something going on with Phillip that he is hiding from his wife as he is being a little bit more disagreeable and controlling that usual. Rick and Moira are also now in a relationship however this seems to have hit a bump when Rick gets a visit from a woman that Moira knows nothing about. With distractions in their personal lives, you do have to wonder if their minds are truly on the case and if maybe they are looking for something that is just not there.
It was interesting to learn more about both Moira & Rick and the things that had happened in their past as clearly events that had led Moira to move to Florida were still affecting her and her ability to trust people. I liked the fact that Phillips adversary from the police department also made an appearance and between the investigation and his health saw him burying the hatchet temporarily and working together to solve the case.
I am beginning to think that retirement homes in Florida are a dangerous place to be and the people who run them seem to be a little bit controlling as they don’t want people to know how they are run. It could just be that they don’t want to answer questions of people who do not have actual authority to snoop around but that aside if I was considering moving to somewhere like that I would want to know that everything was run correctly and that I would be safe. I would recommend that these books are read in order as some events and interactions will make more sense if you do. If you like a cosy crime then this series may be for you and I am looking forward to see what decisions the team come to and if they will get involved in more cases

series, friendship, friends, frustration, retired-cop, retired-FBI, retirement-community, cooperation, procedural, retirees, suspense, investigation, investigators****

It was presumed to have been a suicide but the former CSI expert strongly disagrees.
I think that my lack of excitement for this one is because I have not read either of the first two books. This band of four fairly recent law enforcement retirees from the US and Britain come together to examine cases of suspected murder at the request of a civilian. This time it is the parents of a young woman whom the local law have determined to have committed suicide. Each member of the group has particular law enforcement skills and personal histories (this is the continuing thread that loses me). The investigation is solid and eye opening. I find the need for a mixed review due to my lack of preparation.
I requested and reviewed an EARC from Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley.

This is book 3 in the series of the Retired Detectives Club and I was worried I needed to read these in order. But no this is a stand alone novel featuring the retired detectives who are two couples, married pair Lizzie & Philip and just good friends Rick & Moira. The detectives reside in a retirement community, the Shimmering Sands when Jessie Beckton plunges to her death from the apartment she is selling which was locked from the inside. The police soon say there is no evidence of murder, so the retired detectives step in to solve the case after Jessie's parents beg the foursome. On paper the storyline looks good, but I am afraid this novel did not grab me. It was slow & lacking drama. If you love cozy mysteries, then this is for you.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy of Death on the Beach, the third novel to feature a foursome of retired detectives carrying out investigations ignored by the Florida Police.

The retired detectives are asked to investigate the death of twenty three year old realtor Jessie Beckton who fell to her death from an eighth story penthouse at the Shimmering Sands Retirement Community. The police close the case as a suicide and her parents insist that she was murdered. Moira, Rick, Lizzie and Philip quickly agree with the parents and start investigating.

I have not read the previous novels in the series and picked Death on the Beach to try a new series. It was perhaps not my best idea as I didn’t connect with the characters, despite being much the same age as them, and should have probably read its predecessors first.

The novel is told from each of the retired detectives’ points of view as they split up to investigate any and all leads they uncover. This seems to consist of picking the mostly likely suspects then investigating their alibis to eliminate them. It seems to lack the rigour I would have expected from former law enforcement personnel.

This is a well put together novel with several incidents and an equal balance between plotting and characterisation. There are several suspects, but with no obvious motive they all need investigation and all the characters have some kind of event that upsets the equilibrium of their lives. Unfortunately I found the novel lacked tension and was too facile for my tastes. It simply didn’t hold my attention.

Death on the Beach is not for me.

Death on the Beach by Steph Broadribb

First, let me say that before this book is published, there are some inconsistencies that need to be looked into.

That said, I have read the first two books in this series and think that in order to become more familiar with the four retired detectives, as well as the history of their getting together in Florida to solve crimes, you should probably not read this first. A realtor showing a high rise falls from the ledge and dies. Her death is ruled a suicide but the four detectives ( two couples) decide to look into her death more formally. Especially when another person from her company turns up deceased as well. The plot is awesome and the characters are well developed, likable, and very by the book. As a police procedural, it is exactly what you would expect. The only thing that I have an issue with are the five or six inconsistencies that show up periodically throughout the book.


4 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well s the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

Set in a retirement community in Florida, four retired law enforcement officers have teamed together to form a retired detectives club. They’ve solved previous murders which are mentioned in passing, with reference to past events in earlier books in this series. They are now drawn into the investigation of a young woman’s death which has been recorded as suicide by the investigating police but which her parents believe was murder.

The story is told through the eyes of the four main characters which acts as a means of portraying the various relationships between the central characters and introduces a number of subsidiary story lines on health, past secrets and family tensions.

Weaknesses are that some elements of the story are a bit far fetched. They interrogate people with no authority to do so, they state that none of them has a PI licence, and without some sort of official status most people, and especially suspects, would not be so accommodating. A wife is also seemingly oblivious to some clearly obvious symptoms that her husband is seriously ill. And, an adversary becomes an unlikely ally with some very unconvincing dialogue.

The pace of the story is good although some elements felt rushed especially towards the end. Overall this book was not as good as the first one in the series but still an enjoyable read.

For fans of Richard Osman's Thursday murder club, this is another series for you!
Luxury retirement condos in Florida - a realtor falls off a penthouse balcony in advance of an open house. Or was she pushed?
The senior investigating detective assigned to the case immediately writes it off as a suicide. The other is - silent.
The retired protagonists are asked by the deceased realtor's parents to investigate. Lizzie, the former forensic specialist, deduces that the trajectory of the body indicates the victim was pushed. The foursome then interviews colleagues at the real estate agency as well as the employees & owners of the building.
The building's schematics and access points are kept secret from the quartet (proprietary info), but they have outside resources to assist, including the junior investigating officer.
In the midst of their sleuthing, the realtor's boss is murdered...in the same apartment...
There are a few side stories:
A relationship ensues between 2 of the retirees, Rick & Moira
Flashbacks of Moira's previous career in the UK & what led to her early Florida retirement
Rick's estranged daughter & granddaughter that no one knew about suddenly appear on his doorstep
Philip's health issues alluded to in previous novels
The ending is predictable, but no less enjoyable because of it. A solid contribution to a summer easy breezy whodunnit series.
Thank you to the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, and net galley for an advance reading copy of this novel. It will be released on July 27th, 2023.