Thought I’d stick with the topic of synopses, given I intend to post the four revised ones for the Triple Threat Investigation Agency series. Considering that the last post provided synopsis-writing pointers, there’s no need to repeat . . . at least not so soon.
So, playing around a bit, I came up with this:
S = Summarize
Y = Your
N = Notable
O = Outline
P = Plausibly
S = So
I = It
S = Sells
<LOL> Some days, you just have to go with the flow . . . even if the river is running motionless. 
Can you Hula Like Hilo Hattie, the sequel to The Connecticut Corpse Caper, finds the three amateur sleuths—Jill Jocasta (JJ), Rey, and Linda—serving as bona-fide detectives. The owners of the newfound Triple Threat Investigation Agency even have a paying assignment courtesy of their first client, WP Howell: discover the secret of his young, pretty wife, Carmie. Millions, and a much-desired divorce, rest on it.
What seems straightforward enough quickly becomes complicated when Carmie’s battered body is found in the sapphire waters of the Hawaiian Pacific. It soon becomes evident that Carmie was not the only one with a secret, nor the only one to die an untimely death. Who among a cast of curious, unconventional characters is tenacious (or crazy) enough to eliminate all living liabilities?
In the quest for answers, JJ, Rey and Linda encounter a plethora of suspects. It appears many people had a dislike for, or held a grudge against the wealthy woman.
Their P.I. travels lead them along a few detours, where drug dealers and informants, treachery and blackmail, abound. Benny Pohaku, working both sides of the drug-pushing fence, is young and brash, and his arrogance ticks off the wrong people. Dealer Cash Layton Jones is as galling as he is attractive, and his habit of entering JJ’s condo uninvited results in a few heated encounters. Carmie’s intriguing, if not odd, ‘tini friends serve as pieces to an expanding puzzle. Jon Jonson, a currently down-and-out musician, has been blackballed by Carmie from playing the local music circuit. Being unceremoniously dumped could serve as a motive for murder for Stacy Kapu, Carmie’s trainer and former lover. Restaurant co-manager, Benoit Paillisson, had always had a hate-hate relationship with the rich young woman.
And there is certainly no love lost when it comes to hubby WP Howell. What had Carmie known that might have proven detrimental? Was it so damaging that it prompted the man to kill? Young Salv Smith, a Trango gang member, had some sort of affiliation with Carmie, but what? His mother, Lee, sports the same black widow tattoo—a gang badge—as her stepson. How does she fit in?
Gino Carpella, Carmie’s twin brother, is known to associate with questionable sorts. It was even suggested that he had had his sister’s fiancé executed. Has the rift in the twins’ once close-knit relationship played a part in Carmie’s death? Or has one of Gino’s enemies retaliated by striking out at his closest family member?
While sleuthing, the women find the relations between people and happenings as clear as the contaminated waters of the Ala Wai Canal. Fortunately, they possess perseverance—and receive occasional assistance. Composed, thorough, and discerning Detective Gerald Ives works closely enough with JJ, Rey and Linda to provide guidance, but not so much as to have them tramp on his toes . . . too much. A seasoned private investigator residing on Big Island, Petey May, serves invaluable to the women. His P.I. experience helps in bringing new facts—and evidence—to light.
As the body count increases and the suspect list decreases, the women determine the murderer’s identity, but need to prove it. Resolve and help from pretty pink Tasers bring the evasive culprit, and cohort, to their knees. Literally.
While major incidents are explained, a few loose ends (and cannons) remain. These are addressed, but not necessarily [yet] tied up, in the third novel, Coco’s Nuts. JJ, Rey and Linda are budding detectives, after all, and they have lessons to learn and skills to hone.
Catch ya next week!
The Writer's Grab-Bag 