Death on the Beach

The Retired Detectives Club, Book 3

By: Steph Broadribb

Narrated by: Ruth Redman

Did she jump—or was she pushed? The Retired Detectives have a theory. Now they just need the evidence…

The brand-new Shimmering Sands retirement community is a beachfront paradise—until realtor Jessie Beckton plunges to her death from the penthouse suite she’s selling. When the cops rule out foul play, the Retired Detectives agree to step in. They’re certain Jessie was murdered—but how can they prove it when the apartment was locked from the inside?

As the gang pursue their investigation, a host of potential suspects emerge who all have secrets to hide. But just as they seem to be closing in on a culprit, a shocking second murder sends them back to square one.

Meanwhile, former CSI Lizzie’s marriage to ex-DCI Philip suffers a fateful blow. And their partners in crime-solving, Rick and Moira, find their new romance tested when a mystery woman from Rick’s past appears—with a child in tow.

The team must put aside their differences and join forces with a former adversary if they’re to solve the case. But in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, can they lure the killer into the open before one of them pays the ultimate price?

©2023 Steph Broadribb (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Another fun, clever mystery in the Florida sun, with my favourite cast of characters—more please!”—Susi Holliday, author of The Hike

“I love this series, which is a gripping marriage of British police procedural and sunny, beach side Florida living. Steph Broadribb shows us that retirement is simply the start of a new chapter and there's a great mystery too for the reader to get their teeth into. Recommended.”—Sinead Crowley, author of The Belladonna Maze

“The Retired Detectives feel like old friends you love spending time with and I cannot get enough of them. A multi-layered mystery, full of heart and intrigue. I didn't want it to end.”—Marion Todd, author of the DI Clare Mackay series

Not sure about the end.

Book was good. Story had a couple errors. I don't like that the end was just a setup for a cliffhanger.

Love them seniors

Four retired police detectives and investigators living in a retirement community in Florida form a volunteer group to investigate crimes. I really enjoy their relationships, how they keep themselves in shape and how they put their expertise to work solving cases the police ignore

Feeling done with this series

These books are good for something mindless to listen to while doing other things, but the characters are largely unlikeable, the tension contrived, and the prose repetitive. Seems the author believes all Americans use “real” to mean “very,” and the descriptions of Philip’s “bald pate” and “standing up to his full height” were just cut and pasted throughout this and the other books.

And considering a significant portion of the dialogue required regional US accents (Boston and New York for this book), and how frequently the author emphasized the accents, it would have been nice to have had a narrator with a little more experience with US accents. They all came out sounding like Jimmy Stewart somehow.

Another great story by Steph

Steph delivers another great who done it! The seniors get to solve another one in spectacular fashion and their personal lives evolve as well. The storylines keep you wanting to turn pages to not only find out if you are right about your choice of killer but about finding out about the personal lives of Rick, Phillip and the ladies!

I was looking for book 4 as soon as I finished!

Fun read

I have enjoyed this series. The characters are fun and I enjoy a good mystery

Yayy another fun one

I love these books. Fun adventures, interpersonal relationships, murders to solve, corruption to get rid of and killers to catch.

Love this series

Great characters and plot line. Retired detectives solving crimes using skills honed after a lifetime. Recommended.

Cute

This series was a cute mystery series that was also clean. I enjoyed getting to know the characters over the 3 books.

Dialogue needs help for sure

Understand that this series about a bunch of retired British detectives is set in Florida, which already stretches the bounds of credibility, but the “American” dialogue, accents and idioms are “real” hard for us Americans to hear “for sure”. The plot is OK, but all the emotional baggage turns the story into a soap opera. I’m done. The author should have killed them off or returned them to England when she had the chance.

Couldn’t finish

I quit during chapter 5. I can’t stand the accents! The whole thing just wasn’t my thing.