The Last Carefree Day: An Oceanic Park Mystery

by Geoff Cabin

Overview

Ned Johnston, a middle-aged attorney, has escaped the grind of a high-pressure job by returning to his hometown of Oceanic Park and establishing a small law practice. He spends his spare time hanging out at Java Joe’s Coffee Cafe, surfing the 21st Street Beach break, and listening to music at an old jazz club called the Crow’s Nest. The carefree days of summer in Oceanic Park are shattered, however, when a client and friend of Johnston’s dies under suspicious circumstances. Unsatisfied with the police investigation and suspecting a coverup, Johnston starts his own investigation into the death with the assistance of Sophia Ambrosetti, an investigator and researcher. Their investigation has the effect of stirring up a hornet’s nest and uncovers a web of corruption, deception, and murder.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984567895
Publisher:	Xlibris US
Publication date:	01/10/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	521 KB

About the Author

Geoff Cabin is the editor and publisher of the music zine, Rock Beat International, and the author of The Tommy Keene Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to the Music of Tommy Keene.

Editorial Reviews

2020-03-24
A lawyer investigates the case of a gallery owner who may have died in a suspicious fire in this series opener.

The resort town of Oceanic Park is suffering from rampant overbuilding. Now, the developers have their sights set on the village’s Old Town. Ned Johnston, a lawyer and Oceanic Park native, dreads the coming storm of SUVs and Starbucks outlets but is still able to hang on to his quaint seaside cottage. Chief villain among the developers is Eric Burns, who is ruthlessly pursuing the property of Count Rupert St. Cyr, owner of the Chimera Gallery. A flamboyant, transplanted New Yorker, St. Cyr is outraged by Burns, and Ned agrees to help get the man off his back. Later, a botched opening at the Chimera leads to a fistfight, but the real trouble comes when a fire breaks out in the gallery and St. Cyr is presumed dead. The police suspect St. Cyr set the fire himself to collect on the insurance policy, but Ned isn’t so sure. The discovery of an ancient Sumerian statue looted from an Iraqi museum complicates everything and turns this case into much more than just one of simple arson. Cabin’s novel has all of the elements for a juicy mystery, and the protagonist’s wide-ranging knowledge of jazz and rock music gives the setting an inviting atmosphere. Not much is revealed about Ned himself, but a great deal of detail is given about everything else, so much so that the narrative is slower and heavier than a story like this should be. The densely packed writing hinders the development of tension at key moments. Ned’s legwork often reveals nothing, yet information is easily gained from a contracted researcher, and there is an overabundance of excerpts from media reports.

A mystery that has a nice vibe but doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

Kirkus Reviews