Just Add Salt

1.5* really...
Some big factual errors and the ditzy main character combined to make this a book a struggle to finish. The author didn't seem to do any background research at all; below are a few examples:

More than once in the book comments were made about the whales in the eastern Pacific heading north while it was November! The whales travel SOUTH from the Artic to winter in the Baja area. Since whales play a crucial role in the plot, this is a whopper of a mistake.

Another puzzling error was the comment that the hurricane turned left to head straight for the coast. Hurricanes & tropical storms move north (from the warm tropical waters) so the Baja coast would be to the right and the open ocean would be to the left. Maybe the author is show more from the eastern U.S. (where the coast would be on the storm's left) but then why set her book in California or not do her background research?

I might have been willing to overlook these sort of errors if the story had been a good one but it was only OK. I might have given the story 2.5* if there hadn't been these gross mistakes. The so-so plot combined with the lack of understanding of the eastern Pacific made this into a loser for me. show less

This is a book I found as a free offer - possibly a free kindle day or as a WLC Free Friday promotion. It looked like a mad-cap adventure thriller on a boat in Mexico – and that’s what it is!

Hetta Coffey is a woman who seems to attract Trouble. Fortunately she has enough friends to go through all her adventures with her – except for her boyfriend, Jenks, who appears to put work before a long-planned trip to Mexico by said boat (I should call it ship, really). Even more fortunately, Hetta lands a contract with a Japanese firm that will pay for said trip to take place as soon as possible… which just happens to be hurricane season, so Hetta can’t secure a captain mad enough to take both her and the trip on.

Until Fabio turns up. show more Hot, Mexican and capable. And married. But he does have a charming way of calling Hetta ‘Senorita Cafe’, which I find delightful, having had far worse things said about my name.

I found the story hard to get into for the first few chapters – I think it was the ‘California gals’ jargon, all food, wine, personal trainers and hair colourants. However, once on the high seas (or even the mangrove swamps) the story rattles along. The boating jargon is spot on, and I recommend the stupendous chapters on riding out the hurricane – this was sea-going writing at its best. I’m not surprised to find Ms Schwartz writes for boating magazines – she really knows her stuff and how to tell a tale. It’s a cleverly constructed industrial-environmental clash, very true to life, with added lonesome whale to make love to the ship.

Despite Hetta fantasising about the possibilities of sex, the whale is the only one with any semi-explicit action in that department. It’s a fun read with a great story and excellent descriptions that put you on the spot, right there on the echo-sounder with Hetta’s crew.

I'll be reading more of Ms Schwartz's excellent sea-faring stories! show less

34 of 75 for 2015. OK. This ain't great literature, folks, but immensely enjoyable. I'd previously read another of the Hetta Coffey mysteries, which got me in the taste for more. East, quick, enjoyable read, with a bit of history and local Baja California color thrown in. Add that Hetta lives on a yacht, with all the day-to-day mischief that that can entail, and you've got the makings of a pleasant evening or two with the kindle propped on your thighs. If you're looking for light and frivolous, with a soupçon of danger and sexy if very human characters, give Hetta and Jinx Schwartz a try.

Some big factual errors and the ditzy main character combined to make this a book it was a struggle to finish. The author didn't seem to do any background research at all; below are a few examples:

More than once in the book comments were made about the whales in the eastern Pacific heading north while it was November! The whales travel SOUTH from the Artic to winter in the Baja area. Since whales play a crucial role in the plot, this is a whopper of a mistake.

Another puzzling error was the comment that the hurricane turned left to head straight for the coast. Hurricanes & tropical storms move north (from the warm tropical waters) so the Baja coast would be to the right and the open ocean would be to the left. Maybe the author is from show more the eastern U.S. (where the coast would be on the storm's left) but then why set her book in California or not do her background research?

I might have been willing to overlook these sort of errors if the story had been a good one but it was only OK. I might have given the story 2.5* if there hadn't been these gross mistakes. The so-so plot combined with the lack of understanding of the eastern Pacific made this into a loser for me. show less