The Sanibel Island Detective

The Sanibel Sunset Detective: A Mystery

A Review

Author, Ron Base, a Canadian journalist and movie critic

Number of pages: 237

Publisher: West End Books

On very rare occasions, a book strikes me not only for its literary value but also for how it connects with me personally. This is one of those books.

While vacationing recently on Florida’s Sanibel Island, I ran into Ron Base, the author. He was signing books outside of the restaurant where my wife and I had just finished breakfast. After having an enjoyable conversation with Ron, I bought one of his books, the first in his series of three about newbie detective Tree Callister.

The idea of reading a mystery using Sanibel, one of my favorite places of all time, as it’s geographic location, appealed to me greatly. I intended on reading it when I got home to Orlando but I made the mistake of peeking at a few pages when I returned to the motel—a mistake because I found it difficult to put the thing down. I finished it before leaving the island. Yes, it’s that good.

Base is an excellent and experienced writer who pulls you into this story right from the start and doesn’t let you go until the last page. The main character, Tree Callister, an aging Sanibel resident, is like no detective you’ve ever read about before. He’s new to the game of being an investigator for hire and he stumbles his way through danger until he learns what he must know just to survive.

This novel has something for every age group and has multicultural threads that very effectively broaden the plot’s appeal. Base spreads murder and mayhem across Sanibel like wildfire while making excellent use of island locations. Knowing that beautiful island as I do, this geographic sampling lends a wonderful sense of authenticity. If by some chance you have ever been to Sanibel and return after reading this book, you will never view the place quite the same again.

So far, Mr. Base has two other novels in this series, The Sanibel Sunset Detective Returns and Another Sanibel Sunset Detective. No doubt those books are as good or even better than the first.

Bravo, Ron Base, for a fun and captivating read.

Click here if you would like to learn more about the author and his work.