Review: You Only Live Twice by Edna Buchanan

"When the body of a beautiful young woman washes up on the shore of a Miami beach, wearing only one earring, the cops are stumped. Britt Montero, crime reporter for a Miami newspaper works with the police to help identify the woman. Britt and the cops are shocked when they find out the woman had been declared dead - 10 years ago!"

By Carlene Rae Dater

It's rare when I don't guess the ending of a mystery. I not only read them, I write them so when I find a puzzle I can't solve, or am surprised by the ending, I have to share!

Buchanan has long been one of my favorite writers. She spent many years as the crime writing for the Miami Herald so she gets her facts straight, not only about reporting, but police procedures, too. The book starts when the nude body of a beautiful young woman is found washed up on one of the beaches in Miami. She's wearing one earring but has no other distinguishing marks. Buchanan's heroine, Britt Montero,a crime reporter, is one of the first to arrive. It takes the cops a while, but they finally identify the woman as Kaithlin Jordan. Only problem is - she was declared dead over ten years ago, and her then husband, R.J. Jordan the heir to a Miami Department store, is on death row for her murder! Jordan was convicted of Kaithlin's murder without her body because there was a lot of evidence that R.J. killed her and probably dropped her body in the ocean from his airplane.

Britt digs in the starts to investigate along with her friends at the police department. Britt's mother worked at Jordan's Department store and knew most of the players. She has a secret, but won't tell Britt. With determination and endless energy - fueled mostly by strong black Cuban coffee, Britt follows the clues, ferrets out more than one secret and almost looses her life in the process. The identity of the killer was a big surprise to me! Don't you love when that happens? I sure do. Needless to say, the bad guy got his comeuppance and Britt was able to write "- 30 -" on the story.

Buchanan has lived all her life in Miami and portrays the city and it's people very well. I spent a number of years in Miami myself, and when reading Buchanan's books, I can almost feel the soft tropical breezes, hear the pounding surf, smell suntan oil and taste that spicy Cuban food. I've read and enjoyed all of her books, especially her nonfiction book, "The Corpse Had a Familiar Face." If you love nonfiction stories about real crimes, read that book too. Why not read all of Edna Buchanan's books! They're all great reads.

Carlene Rae Dater has been a writer of both fiction and non-fiction for over 25 years and has been published in a variety of genres. So far she has published five novels and one non-fiction book and has two novels coming out in 2010: one a paranormal romantic suspense and the other a humorous mystery. She's a writing teacher and who loves to share her craft with others.

Visit her blog at http://www.carlenedater.com with comments and questions. She also has an active mystery blog where she reviews books, movies, television shows and anything related to mystery! Check it out at: [http://www.themysterystartshere.com]http://www.themysterystartshere.com.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?You-Only-Die-Twice-by-Edna-Buchanan&id=5770254] You Only Die Twice by Edna Buchanan