Random Things Tours – Book Review – Fallen Butterfly by Anna Nicholas

“Inside the claustrophobic, heavy-duty body bag, Sebi blinked hard, trying to get a sense of place despite the impenetrable darkness”

Genre: Crime Fiction

Number of Pages: 300

Date of Publication: December 2022

Publisher: Burro Books

My Review Summary: An intricately woven mystery that took me to Mallorca.

📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS📖

FALLEN BUTTERFLY is the third instalment in a gripping Mallorca-based crime series from Anna Nicholas, the most prolific British author writing about the island today.

The new book again features local protagonist, 33-year-old Isabel Flores Montserrat, an eccentric, fearless, lateral-thinking sleuth who has a pet ferret named Furó, and is addicted to sunflower seeds and Chupa Chups lollypops.

Unlike many female leads in popular crime fiction today, the Mallorcan former detective inspector is happy and balanced with few hang-ups. She loves her family and mountain community in the Soller valley, her pampered hens and her day job as a holiday rentals agent. Isabel believes in living for the moment and enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

Having turned her back on her old life as a policewoman in Barcelona, Madrid and Palma to run her widowed mother’s ailing mountain rentals agency in the Soller valley, Isabel finds herself being drawn back into detective work by her close friend and former boss, police chief Tolo Cabot. Having already assisted him with a cluster of puzzling island crimes, she is called upon again when Sebi Vives, the local transport minister, is found floating in the sea near Muro. He had increasingly infuriated local environmentalists, having approved a scheme to run a motorway through S’Albufera Natural Park that would destroy the natural fauna and flora and the habitat of thousands of birds. Environmentalists are blamed for the murder but Isabel Flores believes there is more to Sebi Vives’s death.

Meanwhile, close to her own mountain village, Sant Martí, foreign hikers are being misdirected by false cairns and signs in the Tramuntana hills, causing many to fall. Mischief is at work but who is to blame? Is it environmentalists or is something far more sinister at play?

💭THOUGHTS💭

I love a murder mystery and was excited to make a start on this. I enjoy murder mysteries set in different parts of the world and the descriptions in this story really took me to Mallorca. Despite this book being the third in the series, it read well as a standalone and made me want to read the other books in the series.

The writing was descriptive and there was always something going on. There were a couple of different storylines that ran alongside one another, yet ended up intertwining and ending well. I also enjoyed the addition of food. I thought that added another layer to the story.

At the beginning of the book was a dictionary containing some of the words which you would want to look up, which I liked. There was also a hand drawn map to help you to visualise where things were. I always enjoy the addition of a map!

The chapters were long and so you were able to get a good chunk of the story before moving on. There were however breaks in the chapters which added to the good flow of the story. As mentioned above there were lots of things going on yet it was easy and enjoyable to follow.

The main character was excellent. I loved her lightness and her willingness to do whatever it took to get the evidence she needed. She was a likable character which made me want to look at the other books in the series and to learn more about her.

Lastly the settings. I love the warmer setting and enjoyed reading about somewhere that I have never been to. As said above I also enjoyed the addition of food, that for me adds to the overall experience of the book.

Overall a great read, with great characters and settings. I really enjoyed it.

📖THE AUTHOR📖

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