Mystery set on MALLORCA

19th January 2021

Haunted Mapgie by Anna Nicholas, murder mystery set on Mallorca.

What a wonderful change to have a sleuth who is not a tortured soul but an upbeat older woman who delights in the culture, history and geography of the island of Mallorca. Frankly, how could you not love Isabel Flores Montserrat who has a pet ferret called Furó and a hen called Mrs Buncle! This is no. 2 in the series and can be read as a stand alone.

Isabel (Bel) has given up her life in the police force in Palma and now runs her mother’s rather ailing rental agency. Her sleuthing experience is called upon when a young woman goes missing on her way home one evening from a salsa class. She is a popular florist but as Bel looks deeper into her life, she discovers some unsettling things. She also discovers a wooden heart which may be linked to her abduction, and which seems to perhaps be some kind of calling card; it may well link to another disappearance of a woman three years ago and there may even be more missing people to factor in.

In fictional San Martí and environs, where she is based, it seems that pets are also systematically going missing. Are all these events somehow tied together?

As you open the novel, there is a map to guide you around Bel’s village, plus a Glossary of Mallorcan/Spanish terms to keep the reader straight. What came through very strongly for me was the author’s love of the island, and she sets her crime mysteries on this colourful and vibrant island and invites the reader to enjoy Mallorcan life as her sleuth busies herself making links. Investigative evidence is central but she gives Bel real intuition and joie de vivre that makes for a lovely mix. Bel is also partial to those ubiquitous lollies Chupa Chups, the odd handful of sunflower seeds (that’s VERY Spanish) and devours the odd Ensaïmada with the odd Cortado.

You will travel in her Fiat 500 – Pequeñita –  around the island, from Soller, Pollença, Lluc to Artà (I happen to pick the locations with which I am familiar but there are plenty more to enjoy throughout the novel) and observe the changing colours of the Tramuntana Mountains. You will meet local people and feast upon delicacies from the island. The book is set in the Winter months yet the author’s Mallorca still offers a warmth and joyousness that shine through her storytelling.

All in all I feel I have had a literary ‘trip’ to Mallorca with a creatively penned mystery at the heart of the book! A good way to get out of the Covid funk. What more can one ask for?

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Catch Anna on Twitter and Facebook and Insta

Join Team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)

Subscribe to future blog posts