G'Day to Die

In this latest adventure in Maddy Hunter's Passport to Peril series, Emily Andrew is escorting a group of senior citizens, including her Nana, on a trip to Australia. Emily is hoping for a relaxing trip, but those hopes are shattered when one of the tour members is found dead. Nana had taken a picture of a rare plant and Emily is convinced that Claire Bellows found the plant and was murdered before she could tell anyone about her discovery. There are plenty of suspects for Emily to choose from and she begins snooping around. Emily also has other things on her mind, both Detective Etienne Miceli and tour director Duncan Lazarus claim to be in love with her and she needs to choose between the two of them. Add in another murder and Emily show more realizes this trip will be anything but peaceful!

"G'Day to Die" is a delightfully funny cozy mystery. Author Maddy Hunter has a nice sense of humor and word play. The ongoing plot line of Nana accidentally taking pictures of things like plants and animals that haven't been seen in years and are considered extinct was especially funny. As always, Hunter fills the book with slightly eccentric characters such as feuding couple Jake and Lola Silverthorn; mother and son Nora and Heath Acres; Conrad Carver who finds treasures in Nana's photos; photographer Guy Madelyn; and various members of a scientific conference. The Iowans are as funny as ever especially Bernice and her battles with various animals. Hunter has fun with the Australian accent but it does get to be a bit much and hard to read at times. While there are some funny scenes between Duncan and Etienne, I'm glad Hunter didn't stretch that plot line too far and had Emily choose between the two of them (long time readers probably won't be surprised at who Emily chooses). The mystery itself is okay, if a bit of a cheat at the end.

Fans of humorous cozy mysteries will enjoy not only "G'Day to Die" but the entire Passport to Peril series. show less

When Emily escorts a tour to Australia, she once again plays detective when biologist Claire Bellows dies and a rare plant goes missing. She is also balancing the attention of two men. What will she do?

I really enjoyed this one - the later ones in this series are definitely better than the first. As an ex-pat living in Melbourne, I enjoyed reading the very accurate descriptions of the areas the tour was visiting. The love triangle was getting tedious, but was redeemed by the end of the story. I'm sorry to see that this series ends with the next book, Norway to Die.