Peril Under the Palms

Iris Cooper #3

by K.K. Beck

Hawaii's tropical splendor spawns a murderous mystery for Iris Cooper and journalist Jack Clancy when pineapple heiress Antoinette Caulfield fears she is being stalked and Viola Blodgett is found bludgeoned with a coconut

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery

273 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Kathrine Kristine Beck Marris (born 1950), known mainly by her pen name of K. K. Beck, is an American novelist. She has written over a dozen books, some of which were part of the Iris Cooper novel series and the Jane da Silva novel series.

An early novel of hers, Death of a Prom Queen (1984) was written under the pen name of Marie Oliver. She wrote a series of other novels, under the name K. K. Beck, such as The Revenge of Kali-Ra in 1999. One of her most recent works, The Tell-Tale Tattoo and Other Stories (2002) is a collection of short stories.

She lives in Seattle, Washington, and was married to the crime-writer Michael Dibdin, who died in 2007.

Series:
* Iris Cooper
* Jane Da Silva

Reviews

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021 bk 143. The third of the series (I don't have the second) has us meeting Iris and her aunt and they and a young couple approach Hawaii in the mid 1920's. This is a mystery involving family relations, hidden genealogical secrets, bigamy, and the course of leprosy in Hawaii. Much more serious than her first book in content and with more mysterious deaths. I do know that if I make it to Hawaii someday - I won't be going near oleander. An okay read, but like #1 - time for it to find a new reader.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is de rigueur to read a murder mystery set in the locale in which one is vacationing. I have a small shelf of mysteries at home, all of which are set in the Hawaiian Islands. The more crowded the shelf, the greater the reason to return to the Sandwich Isles and kick back with a book. I had never before read any of K.K. Beck's murder mysteries -- "Young Mrs. Cavendish and the Kaiser's Men" or "Murder in a Mummy Case." She specializes in the 1910s which is interesting and informative. There was too much attention paid to what women were wearing and how their hair was fixed. I must not be in the intended audience. The gruff newspaperman was a bit overdrawn and continued to use the word "scoop" inordinately. I think there was supposed to be some understated sexual tension between this reporter and the female protagonist. I thought she could do much better. The story led me down a series of dead-end avenues until, in the last three chapters, all was revealed, with all of the surviving principal players in the same room, as befits a mystery of this sort. While I don't think that Ms. Beck intended anything racist, her treatment of Native Hawaiians, Japanese and "hapa-haole" (persons of mixed ancestry), caused a flinch from time to time. Her grasp of things Hawaiian seemed a bit shallow to me, as well. There are other better authors more likely to accompany me on my next vacation in Hawai'i.

[Alison C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iris Cooper is traveling with her Aunt Hermione to Hawaii, where a fellow Stanford student lives. Antoinette is about to marry, but her family doesn’t know it yet, and Antoinette is worried that her fiance might change his mind if he discovers her secret: her mother, who died when she was very young, had apparently served time in prison! And now, she has received a letter purported to be from her mother, who says Antoinette’s grandparents (who raised her) lied about her death. She asks Iris to look into the matter, discreetly of course, but nothing is as it seems and soon Iris is running into one dead body after another - good thing newsman Jack Clancy has shown up too!... This is the third and last of the Iris Cooper books, and like the two before it, the 1920s setting, interesting mix of somewhat exotic locale and eccentric characters all serve to make it a delight; Iris herself is a great “plucky girl” type and the will-they/won’t-they relationship between Iris and Jack is deftly handled. Each of these books can be read in a day, so give them a go! Recommended.

[Terry Steinborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very light mystery from Seattle author K.K.Beck. This one takes place in Hawaii in 1928 as Iris and her aunt visit Hawaii on a sort of vacation. While there, they discover the body of a woman they met aboard the ship they sailed there on, then another body turns up. The bodies must be tied together in some way, and so Iris and her old friend Jack, a newspaper reporter who just happens to show up, decide to investigate. There are some suspicious circumstances involving on of the old-money families in Hawaii, and the coincidences and the story take off from there. A pleasant diversion from the highly over-wrought agony of reading James Lee Burke's "Light of the World".

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iris Cooper, a 1920s ingenue fresh out of boarding school, rediscovers her inner Nancy Drew while traveling with her Aunt and chaperone in Hawaii. You see, there are a couple of nasty murders. Iris and her brash reporter friend Jack (who acts like one of those newspaper chaps from a 30s b-movie) solve them with the requisite number of lame wisecracks and nonexistent sexual tension.

This is young adult fiction written before the category was properly established. It isn’t bad as featherlight cozy fiction goes, but does little with an excellent setting and a pretty good mystery plot.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rates high as fun, well-written, tightly plotted, like #1 but unlike weaker #2. The detailed look at Honolulu in 1928 fascinated me!! I loved the glimpses of scenery back then, places I've known today, the sorts of secrets in local families, the whole picture. Told by Iris Cooper, in close company with Aunt Hermione, on vacation in Honolulu, this was a romp of a book I couldn't put down!

[Melodie Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well crafted story, but I found the book suffered from a lack of editing. I found some dialogue cumbersome and overly dramatic, even for the decade in which it was placed, and there were several typos that distracted me. The plot was very good, and kept me going, though.

[Hilda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow

[Tami Jurgens]

I love this series of books. KK Beck has a unique way of writing.

[Lindsay (LindsayReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peril Under the Palms is the last novel in the Iris Cooper Mystery series. A Book Olive mentioned a concluding short story and I desperately need to find it! I will update y’all once I have that information but until then…on with the review!

Iris and Aunt Hermione are vacationing in Hawaii and celebrating the engagement of Antoinette, Iris’ college roommate and the heiress of a Hawaiian sugarcane family. Iris is determined to have a good time despite her annoyance at traveling with an engaged couple after recently being stood-up by her old partner in crime, snappy reporter Jack Clancy. Thankfully, bodies start dropping like flies, and Iris is pulled into solving multiple murders and unearthing dark secrets about Antoinette's family. Good thing Jack Clancy shows up to help out!

Peril Under the Palms is my favorite of the series, and I am sad Beck didn’t continue writing Iris’ adventures. The Hawaiian setting is exquisite and the mystery is twisted enough to keep you guessing until the very last page. I’m so glad that Aunt Hermione is back! Her quick whit and insatiable curiosity was definitely missed in Murder in a Mummy Case. This trip finds Hermione working overtime helping with grief stricken old ladies and gathering intel at bridge games. Iris is once again everything I love in a snarky female detective! This story finds her participating in true ‘behind the scenes’ investigation as she sneaks around looking for clues. She is older, wiser, and just as stubborn, and this time Iris intentionally puts herself in danger in order to uncover the truth.

And what can I say about Jack Clancy? The chemistry between the reporter and novice detective is electric! And that’s all I’m going to say because…spoilers! Just know…the scene on the beach…I’m not much of a swooner but that scene was perfectly swoon worthy!

I am so sad this is the last book in the series. Despite the brevity of the stories, Beck did a wonderful job developing her characters and providing thrilling mysteries. I’m not ready to say goodbye; I want to know what happens to them! Hopefully, I’ll have a concluding short story to share in the near future. Thank you again Olive at A Book Olive! I would have never known about this series without you!

Please pick up the Iris Cooper stories! They are the perfect addition to a quiet summer day. And let me know what you think!

Lindsay

Check out more reviews at HistoryMysteryBooks.com!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT OLDER NOVEL WITH DEEP FAMILY SECRETS AND DECEIT. I COULDN'T BELIEVE WHO THE MURDERER WAS. WOW!!!!

[andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third and apparently final installment of this series. Fun mystery... the best of the 3. Sad to have it come to an end.