The first book in the Dolly Mystery series, originally published in 1983, is long, complicated, and full of slapstick events. Rita, a young Scottish makeup artist, is hired by a Natalie, a wealthy woman, and transported to Maderia to tend to the beauty needs of her new boss. When Rita's mentor is found dead of a suspicious suicide, Rita takes on amateur sleuth status, to assist Johnson Johnson, to find the killer. There are many subplots and personalities that consume the reader's energy. Recommended for Dorothy Dunnett fans and readers who enjoy winding stories with many twists.

"Tropical Issue" by Dorothy Dunnett is a remarkable collection of short stories that transports readers to exotic locales, from the lush tropics to the far reaches of the globe. Dunnett's evocative prose vividly captures each setting and immerses readers in a rich tapestry of characters and cultures. These tales offer a unique blend of adventure, mystery, and romance, all masterfully crafted by the author's storytelling prowess. Dunnett's ability to paint diverse, intricate narratives within the confines of short stories is a testament to her skill. "Tropical Issue" is a literary journey that promises unforgettable experiences and is a must-read for lovers of well-crafted fiction.

At first it is a little difficult to see where the story is going: Rita's entry into the house and into the life of the strange character named Johnson Jonson is somewhat forced. Equally forced is the beginning of the working relationship between the young make-up artist and the journalist Natalie Sheridan, with whom she goes to Madeira. Rita's adventures in Madeira, which end with the death of her friend and colleague Kim-Jim, are just as wacky, but in the meantime Rita has become likeable to us, thanks to her writing style, which makes one relax and enjoy anything the author writes, even the most far-fetched. In short, a novel that, told like this, is as far from what I like to read as possible, but which I enjoyed very much.

Loved this, but did find some of the characters a little maddening. Rita is upset when her friend, a fellow make-up artist, dies. As she tries to work out why various things start to become clearer, not least the interesting family dynamics of her friend Kim-Jim.

Wonderfully Woven..
Wonderfully woven mystery and the first in the Dolly Book series of mysteries finds Rita in Madeira on a mission. Also anchored off island stands Dolly, the yacht belonging to Johnson Johnson. Let the mission begin. Perfectly light and frothy with a keenly observed and nicely interacting cast, well described atmospheric settings and a yarn choc a block full of twists and turns and surprising revelations.

A very entertaining read, with an engaging female protagonist. Her unique voice means you might take a little time to adjust to the tone, but once you do this is a cracking read, with a thrilling plot, set in a variety of well-realised locations. I am very much looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

I'd never heard of Dorothy Dunnett before but apparently she wrote several mystery series in the 80's. This one is narrated by a dyslexic make up artist named Rita Geddes, and she has a very unique voice. I thought she was a great narrator, with her own secrets and agenda, but I found myself having trouble picking up the book and getting into the story right away. I needed time and pages to get back into the lingo, the perspective, and the plot. So I had trouble looking forward to reading more of the book. It's also VERY LONG. I read it on Kindle but this thing had to be at least 400 pages, and now that I've read the end, I don't think it's needs to be that long. You almost forget the whole point of the story at times because of all the boat excursions, disguises and conversations that happen.

I enjoyed Johnson and his perceptiveness of Rita - he knew she was dyslexic because she didn't write stuff down, got lost walking his dog, misuses words (which happens in the book all the time, like she uses "semiphore" when she means hemisphere etc) but still realizes how smart she is. She herself is caught off guard with how he almost reads her mind. "On the same wavelength," they both note.

The ending is terrific - and extra dramatic because everything happens under the storm of a hurricane and there are deaths and reveals and all sorts of twists. Overall, I think Dunnett has a good story to tell, a very inventive narrator at the very least, but the book desperately needs editing. It took me a WEEK to finish this , which isn't typical at all.

Thanks for NetGalley for the chance to read and review!

I am a big fan of Dorothy Dunnett's historical novels but this was my first read of one of her "modern" mysteries. It wasn't as successful, to me, as her historical novels, but I did enjoy it - primarily because of Dunnett's witty writing.
So I put "modern" in quotes because this book was originally published in 1980. It has been pubished under different titles since and is being re-released again. There were a couple of plot points that haven't aged especially well. The story was twisty and engaging, though. And I smiled and laughed admiring throughout the book at Dunnett's writing. Just one example: "... she still wouldn't let us come in. She had no English at all, and none of her words were in the dictionary, being made, it seemed, entirely of bullets." I'm a lover of long, complicated sentences with lots of commas, concluding with the precisely right word.

I used to think of Dorothy Dunnet as a writer of historical fiction and this book was a surprise because it’s a humorous, compelling, and well plotted mystery.
We would call it a cozy mystery now but it was a mystery tout court in 1983.
As it was the first mystery I read by this author I cannot compare it to other novel but I can say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Rita is a well plotted characters, a quirky and strong woman.
The setting is wonderful, I’ve been in love with Madeira since forever, and loved the description
I recommend it.
Many thanks to Farrago for this arc, all opinions are mine.

Rita Geddes is asked by her photographer friend Ferdy to do the makeup for a photo shoot for Natalie Sheridan. He will be doing the shoot at Johnson Johnson's apartment. Johnson Johnson has recently been in a plane accident and is in bed in his room. Natalie likes Rita's work, and asks her to go to Madeira because Jim-Kim, her make up artist and the man who trained Rita, is taking time off.

On Madeira, Rita is beaten by the man who drives her to Natalie's (she catches a look at his cuff link which she later finds out is the icon for a banana company. The man has a prominent position, but something is seriously wrong with him! When Jim-Kim is found dead in the house, Rita is pretty sure he has been murdered. Rita wants to find who is responsible. Natalie and Rita fly to Martinique, and run into Johnson Johnson. Soon, Rita realizes she is involved in solving a drug case, and Johnson Johnson and his men and boat Dolly are also involved. Ferdy arrives to join the group, and Jim-Kim's family arrive in a huge boat. Can Rita and Johnson Johnson figure out who are the drug smugglers and capture them before someone else is killed?

This book is definitely very different from those in Dunnett's Lyman and Niccolo series, but it has interesting zany characters and a lot of excitement.

I adored this!! Rita is an absolute perfect main character and like a friend. There is more to come with Rita and I can't wait!!
I just reviewed Tropical Issue by Dorothy Dunnett. #TropicalIssue #NetGalley
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4.5 STARS

Scottish makeup artist Rita Geddes is a tough little cookie who gets roped into some murder and mayhem by her mentor, Kim-Jim, an American famous in her field. She ends up at a London apartment helping the oddly named Johnson Johnson, a portrait artist who is recovering from some devastating injuries. Rita makes a lot of initial assumptions about Jay, as his friends and associates call him, some of which are wrong or misguided. Rita’s main work is in movies, but she also takes on rich clients who need their make-up done to perfection for social and business events. When Rita goes to Madeira with her client, Natalie Sheridan, who has a close connection to Kim-Jim, she is surprised that Johnson is there on his very well-appointed yacht called Dolly.

Rita experiences quite a bit on the island including the loss of someone dear; she is determined to track down the perpetrator with the help, although grudgingly on her part, of Johnson who seems to know everyone and has some mysterious talents and connections. After Madeira, Rita and Johnson end up in the Caribbean connected to a project of Natalie’s while they to continue efforts for Rita’s crusade, and to uncover a linked plot that involves drug smuggling and other perfidious activities.

As usual with Lady Dunnett’s complex writing, this story has a lot of perplexing clues that are slowly revealed through Rita’s first-person point of view. As someone with dyslexia, Rita has several coping strategies for dealing with the written word as well as taking messages, some of which would seem anachronistic now but are period appropriate. Rita sports an unusual style, especially for the time period, of “punk” multicolored hair and the propensity to paint stripes her face, apparently to a make-up artist that makes sense. She keeps Johnson on his toes which considering some recent events in his life, is a good thing as well as being entertaining to read.

Fans of the other Dorothy Dunnett works will be interested to note that while this series is not a version of a light-hearted Lymond or a machinating Niccolò, Johnson certainly has their intelligence, acerbic wit, and enigmatic personality. There are a lot of big and surprising reveals at the end which may cause readers to read it again to see if it is possible to figure out the clues. This book was originally published last of the Dolly tales; however, with the re-issue listed as the first in the series, it serves as a sort of prequel giving salient facts about Johnson and contextual information for the other books.

The plot is as deep and dark as it gets, multi-layered with 'who knew what when?' as the strands come together and the finer details get filled in. This is an absolutely compelling, gripping book full of mystery and suspense. Only a few authors can write deeply involving psychological drama of the very highest quality. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

Sharp and snappy writing, exotic locations and colourful characters make this murder mystery/thriller very enjoyable and great fun to read. You wouldn't believe that it was first published about 40 years ago apart from a few cultural references which are still meaningful - to someone of my age anyway! Like Dorothy Dunnett's historical writing this story is packed with meticulous detail, red herrings abound, and the plot twists and turns so that at one minute you think you know what's going on only to be bamboozled on the next page. Rita is a wonderful leading lady, inventive and courageous and if at times a little afraid of the consequences of her actions never shows it. It reads a bit like a James Bond story - the writing is witty and intelligent, the plot is oh so carefully planned, there is plenty of action but the characters always remain real, their behaviour credible and human.
It is a book I would read again just to enjoy the experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward very much to the re reissue of the rest of the series.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Rita, a makeup artist, investigates the murder of another famous makeup artist. I struggled to get into this one with the writing style.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Farrago Books for a review copy of Tropical Issue, the first novel to feature artist and international man of mystery, Johnson Johnson and his boat, Dolly, originally published in 1980 under the title Dolly and the Bird of Paradise.

Rita Geddes, “a small, tough Scottish make-up artist” is in Madeira, substituting for her friend Kim-Jim Curtis, when he arrives unexpectedly and promptly gets shot to death. Rita teams up with the mysterious Johnson Johnson to uncover a killer and soon finds herself with problems, not only is Johnson maddening to deal, but she finds herself investigating an international drug smuggling ring.

I thoroughly enjoyed Tropical Issue, which is a fun read with an indomitable protagonist, plenty of twists and an action packed plot. It is a caper with glamorous locations (it soon moves from Madeira to the Caribbean) and several unlikely events, but it also has a real, unguessable mystery attached and is highly entertaining.

I was disappointed to see after looking at the synopses for the series that Rita Geddes doesn’t appear to be involved and that Johnson Johnson and his boat appear to be the series protagonists. That seems like a waste to me as Rita is a wonderful creation and, not only that, she hails from my hometown of Troon. It gets plenty of mentions, but, sadly, no action. She’s not tall, but she’s feisty and unafraid of saying what she thinks of having a go when required, or not. Her many secrets come tumbling out as the novel progresses and I was amazed at every turn. She’s a wonderful creation.

The novel is chock full of detail of how the characters intertwine and who did what. I’m not sure I followed all of it, but I got the highlights and that’s all that really matters. The novel is relatively straightforward at the beginning with Rita meeting Johnson and not getting on too well with him and them gradually starting to work together, albeit with her chafing at his secrecy and high handedness, but it’s the end of the novel that really shines with all sorts of revelations and twist upon twist in addition to some exciting action scenes.

It should be noted that some of the attitudes in the novel are not quite acceptable forty years later.

Tropical Issue is a fun read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

artist, TV-personality, detective-fiction, mystery, make-up-artist, crime-fiction, British, tTV-film-industry, historical, Portugal, espionage, 1983, dyslexia, situational-humor, verbal-humor, murder, murder-investigation, danger, journalist, smuggling, law-enforcement, drug-enforcement****

This book is contemporary to the time in which it was written.
Rita is a 4'11" make-up artist from Scotland with dyslexia, and all the other characters are just as interesting. Some attitudes are unacceptable today, but the story itself is funny and well done.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Farrago Books via NetGalley,