Book Review: Murder at the Bad Girls Bar and Grill
November 1, 2009 by Rachel Baker · Leave a Comment
There are three types of folks that live in Florida. There are those of us born here; there are those of us who have moved here from “up north” (which means anywhere in the US) because the weather is better here year round; and there are those of us that came to visit and never left for a reason other than the weather. This third grouping are the people who understand you can be yourself here – wacky and odd, if you so choose. Those of us who were born here may have left and come back, because we realized a) the weather was better here year round and b) after visiting other places, this is the best place in the country and c) there’s no other place in the country you can be as carefree as you can here. Not that I’m biased. And N.M. Kelby knows these groups as evidenced in her newest book, Murder at the Bad Girl’s Bar and Grill.
This book is witty, funny and full of characters I could relate to! I know the character who owns a bar, refuses to close down and sell the property to a developer, while taming a vulture (or a possum, or a raccoon, or even an alligator) and falling in love with a kind-hearted clown (we have a lot of those here!). Natives to Florida ARE the group of people who damn a live entertainer for knowing more Barry Manilow than Jimmy Buffett.
Murder at the Bad Girl’s Bar & Grill, is a hilarious story with a great cast of characters. The owner of the bar is a retired actress who constantly compares every situation to an old horror movie she was in:
Danni would like to reassure him. “Hey, what’s a little ritualistic behavior between friends?” she wants to say, but doesn’t. She once said that in The Lust of the Vamire Cheerleaders and things did not go well – not well at all.
She’s fighting the acting president of the Chamber of Commerce and minority owner of Laguna Key (the town the story takes place in) to keep the bar she’s just opened. He thinks the bar is an economic plight on the community. The real issue is the land the bar is on is right smack in the middle of land owned by a developer who wants to build a big shopping area. Danni inherited the bar, and evidently there’s historic value in the land, but she’s got to figure out what this value is. There’s fire, murder, and clowns all throughout the story.
Wait! Did I say, clowns? Yes, ladies and gentleman, I said clowns in the same sentence as fire and murder. Weird? You better believe it! There’s also a blue’s loving transient who keeps showing up to rescue the developer’s daughter from her psychotic husband, and a security guard who solves the case before the FBI do. Did I tell you, there are clowns?
N.M. Kelby has written a book in true Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey style. This book belongs on all Floridian reading stacks as a reminder of how great life is here and how very odd our friends really are. Murder at the Bad Girls Bar & Grill also belongs in the beach bag of those visiting our beautiful state of Florida. A note of warning to those reading this book on a Florida vacation: while reading Murder at the Bad Girl’s Bar & Grill, the desire may be very strong to jump in your rental car, find the Bad Girls Bar and Grill, and never leave the state. Let it happen. Feel the pull that’s kept us natives here for so long. Enjoy it, embrace it. We do…no matter how odd we all seem to be. Just don’t forget, the reason you once visited is because you enjoyed the shorelines and the fantastic views of the ocean.
(excerpted from Old Musty Books)
