Flip-Flops and Murder

Barefoot Sleuth Mysteries, Book 1

By: H.Y. Hanna

Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt

Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

English girl Ellie is a "fish out of water" when she arrives in sunny Florida for a vacation with her aunt at a luxury beach resort. But she's barely dipped her toe in the ocean before she stumbles on a sinister murder. Now, Ellie must battle sunburn, jet lag and a cheeky parrot named Hemingway, while trying to unravel the mystery.

With a writers' conference in full flow, there's no shortage of suspects. Is the killer a jealous rival author? Or the victim's secret lover? And why are some of the resort staff behaving so suspiciously? To make things worse, Aunt Olive has gone missing, fueling gossip that she might be on the run. But Ellie is sure that her aunt isn't guilty.

Life gets even more complicated when she starts snooping around the resort. First, there's the resident cat Mojito, who leads Ellie on a wild "gator" chase, and then, there's the handsome resort doctor who sets Ellie's pulse racing in a different way!

As more red herrings than sand dollars wash up on the beach, Ellie must use all her wits to solve the case before her visit to the Sunshine State becomes deadlier than she ever imagined....

Welcome to the deadliest beach resort in Florida in USA Today best-selling author H.Y. Hanna's fun, new mystery series!

©2020 H.Y. Hanna (P)2020 H.Y. Hanna

Fun mystery!

Funny, entertaining, surprising and makes you anxious to read the next book in the series.

FUN READ AND GOOD MYSTERY

This is my new favorite H. Y Hanna mystery series. Hope there will be more . Love the characters and the narrator. I can't wait for the next Baefoot Sleuth Mystery!

Another Good H.Y. Hanna Series

I have listened to many H.Y. Hanna books and enjoyed them all so I thought I would give this one a try. No disappointment here. Naturally a lot of that enjoyment comes from the as usual great Pearl Hewitt narration.

Cozy Mystery Set in Beach Resort

Flip-Flops and Murder is the first book in a new series by H.Y. Hanna featuring a 20-something English young woman who is in need of a career counselor. She travels to a resort in Florida "to find herself" and to visit her aunt who is attending a writers conference. However, when she arrives her aunt is no where to be found and Ellie gets mixed up with the death of another writer. I've enjoyed H.Y. Hanna's other books so much that this one just didn't seem to draw me in like the other series did. I will have to wait to see where this one develops as I can't imagine that the entire series will be set at a Florida resort. The one bright spot is Pearl Hewitt, who did the narration and she is simply fantastic!

It’s ok

There are definitely elements of the story that I find shaky but despite that it is passes the time. I got it on sale, unless the rest of the series are also on a really good sale I doubt I will continue with the series

A getaway with a side of mystery

Ellie was daydreaming of white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters the exact opposite of London during the holiday season. Imagine her surprise when her favourite black sheep aunt and best selling mystery author asks her to come stay at a posh beach resort for the holidays!
When Ellie arrives she has no idea what exactly she's stepping into! A fantastic mix of characters come to life as Ellie looks to solve not only a murder but the mystery of her missing Aunt!
I couldn't stop listening to this book! It was so good and just the vacation I needed to get away from 2020 for a bit.
*Disclaimer i was sent a copy of this book from the author in return for a review. The opinions above are my own.

Too far into cozy land

The main character interfered with evidence in such outlandish ways that I couldn't continue the series, though I did finish the book. I generally enjoy the author's work, but you really have to be in the cozy mystery disbelief mode for this one.

Earns 5+/5 Squawking Macaws...Clever Fun!

Brilliant! H.Y. Hanna is an excellent writer engaging me again in another witty, clever, cozy mystery, and my experience was greatly enriched by the voice artistry of Pearl Hewitt using a delightful British dialect, many interpretations of good o’ American, and an entertaining variety of male and female, young and mature voices. Ellie Bishop, well depicted by Hewitt’s tone and dialect, has exchanged a dead-end job, broken heart, and dreary London winter for a vacation at a beachside resort in sunny Florida on invitation of her eccentric Aunt Olive Goldberg. However, when she arrives at the hotel, Aunt Olive is missing and, later, a dead body is found. This cozy is shorter than books in Hanna’s other series, but not on content and entertainment, and her strong female character, always working on confidence issues, continues to be set in wonderful surroundings with challenges, friends, family, a romantic opportunity, and a fur, or feathered, friend to add angst and comic relief, of course, squawked and meowed well by Hewitt. The murder mystery had me bouncing around the obvious to the obscure with a surprising, but totally satisfying karmic conclusion. And...Ellie’s reluctance to entertain a holiday romance, is a conundrum when she meets the hunky doctor. Hanna’s descriptions of the tropical environment, regional delicacies, and antics by two- and four-legged characters along with realistic dialogue to help illustrate personalities kept me engaged and eager for more, and loving with Pearl Hewitt’s performance!

2.5 Stars

Flip Flops and Murder is book 1 of the Barefoot Sleuth series by K.Y. Hanna. This was my first book by this author. While this book was just okay to me, I did find it to be somewhat charming, so I would give the author another try by reading book 2 in the series. I felt there was a lot of unnecessary filler in this book, especially in the beginning, along with several ridiculous and illogical events and actions. Then, when the murder was actually solved, I was laughing out loud the whole time at the sheer lunacy of the whole thing playing out. It was really quite silly. Yet I still found the book to be somewhat charming so I don’t know what that says. I thought the romantic interest was sweet and a good pairing. The bird and cat were great additions to the story and solving the mystery. The narration was good. The narrator has a great meow and a really good parrot voice so that was fun. Overall, I give this book 2.5 stars but I will round up to 3.

Fun new series

This new mystery from H.Y. Hanna was fun to listen to. Her stories set in Britain are my favorites, but this book was entertaining and enjoyable as well.
It has some interesting characters, and as in all of her books, some fun animal characters too. The narrator, Pearl Hewitt, does an excellent job with all the different voices, and in this book even adds a sassy macaw to her repertoire.
Don't expect anything too serious - this is light escapist fare, and I must admit I was able to figure out who the murderer was fairly early on.
Just listen, laugh, and enjoy.
I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.