But that’s only the beginning of their problems…
A Taste Society courier goes missing.
And twenty-six hours after Izzy lands in Australia, a crocodile is found dead. With a human corpse inside.
Not quite the start to her relaxing holiday she’d been hoping for.
Etta, on the other hand, is ecstatic. Relaxing was never part of her itinerary.
Meanwhile, Izzy’s boyfriend, Connor, is developing a new sympathy for fish out of water. Between trying to win over Izzy’s country-folk parents, preventing Etta from shooting anything, and being enlisted to smuggle a goat into a posh hotel, his day job hunting down criminals has never seemed more appealing.
Then a series of accidents threatens to add Izzy to the body count. Is Australia really that dangerous? Or does someone want Izzy to swim with the fishes crocodiles?
Comment: This is the sixth and final book in this series by Chelsea Field,whose installments I've been reading since late 2022. On one hand, this was a light series,easy to read at any time and for that I feel sad to see it end, on the other even with the assumption this is light, more could have been done to make it stronger.
In this final book, Izzy, Connor and Etta travel to Australia to meet Izzy's parents. What was supposed to be a quiet and simple trip so that Izzy could see her parents after so long and for Connor to meet them at last, of course turns into a mission. One of the Australian tasters is found dead and they find out she was part of an apparent smuggling ring, which means Connor and Izzy decide to investigate, while dealing with the shenanigans around her family reunion. It turns out that the smuggling is connecting to "the grey nomads", older folks who travel by caravan and such all through Australia, and one of them just happens to be someone from Izzy's mother's past. This proves to be a handy excuse to get to know them, but will it be easy to accept what they find?
For me, this story worked out in general, it's pretty much the same vibe and feel of the other books, but if I were to pick apart each detail, I cannot say this will be remembered by me as a favorite. I think that, in part, I feel this because it's the last book and it didn't finish in a premeditated manner,for I think the author had all intention of writing more and, apparently, she decided not due to personal issues. There is a bonus note at the author's website wrapping up some loose threads of the series, which validates this impression.
It is a pity that the series wasn't finished properly, on the page, but things are as they are and I hope the author can return to publishing one day. In regards to this book, is was clearly intended to be continued, considering the end. I mean, things end up well enough for this specific plot, but one or two things are left up in the air, and one more at least would have probably concluded whatever was necessary, but this is what was possible. I cannot say I disliked the end, and I have now read the bonus note, but it's not the same, no.
Anyway, in this book the adventure of searching for clues about the poor taster's death and the recovery of something she was carrying with her, which the grey nomads want to retrieve was the drive behind most of the plot segments, and some scenes were as funny and silly as we've seen in previous installments. I think the Australian references were interesting too and despite the snake and crocodile inclusions I still feel I'd not mind a travel to that country. I think there were enough elements to catch our interest here, but I will confess some elements felt unnecessary.
For instance, I know that Etta's character is meant to be extraordinary and out of the box, but her presence here felt a little too much. I also expected more scenes with Izzy's family and hoped for some cute/bonding scenes between them and Connor. I also assumed we would have more links to the poison tasting, after all having the other taster dying seemed to be the only real reference to it, but all these things were only dealt with superficially. The grey nomads inclusion was interesting, from a cultural and social POV, it also added funny scenes here and there, but it didn't have to be enough.
Izzy remains a very likable heroine, with enough emotional thoughts and feelings to make her somehow vulnerable, but often she sees herself in very odd situations. I do like the quirky aspect of the series for the most part, but I do wish some of the most serious issues the characters face, namely Izzy's, would have had a bit more passion into how they would be used. Sometimes the silly things do go on for a bit too long.
The case is solved, of course, and the explanation isn't as simple as I imagined, which was an unexpected element, and there were enough things in the whole plot that made the story line captivating. I think the fact the main characters had to be in motion made some things a bit inconvenient and rather pointless, such as "wasting" (let's say) the family reunion, and the presence of Izzy's best friend Lily, whose character was adrift among everything else.
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