The Scent of Waikiki (Trouble in Paradise)
by Terry Ambrose
Pass me that Pina Colada because we’re back in paradise with Terry Ambrose and his Trouble in Paradise Series. We are also honored to be visited by his sleuth, Wilson McKenna who fills us in on life on the island. He tells us he resembles George Clooney-maybe-sort of. Close enough for me, McKenna!
Be sure to look for Prize Guy because today he gives you a chance at a print or digital copy of The Scent of Waikiki and a $10 Starbucks gift card.
About the Book
The Scent of Waikiki (Trouble in Paradise)
Cozy Mystery
9th in Series
Satori (July 19, 2018)
Print Length: 330 pages
ASIN: B07CZ3B389
Honolulu landlord Wilson McKenna can smell a scam from across the room. So when one of his tenants loses everything in a work-at-home scam involving a new perfume, he’s shocked. With his wedding just weeks away, McKenna has to make a tough decision. Does he evict a woman who’s down on her luck? Or take time out from wedding planning to help his tenant?
Turning the case over to his PI-in-training friend Chance Logan seems like the perfect solution—until Chance tells McKenna he needs a wingman for a visit to fragrance entrepreneur Skye Pilkington-Winchester. McKenna’s sure he can keep everyone happy by helping Chance this one time. But nothing is ever as easy as it seems, and soon McKenna’s up to his board shorts in hot water. His tenant’s simple fragrance scam might involve industrial espionage, Skye’s assistant is murdered, and McKenna’s bride-to-be accuses him of having cold feet.
As McKenna and Chance dig deeper, it seems so much of what they’re being told doesn’t pass the sniff test. And the only way to get his life back is to find the dead girl’s missing boyfriend, unmask a killer, and finish up in time for the wedding. Other than that, it’s just another day in paradise.
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And now we welcome Wilson McKenna, the star of Trouble in Paradise Series…
Please tell us about your latest adventure.
I assume you’re talking about the whole debacle with my tenant Grace Takahashi and how she lost money to a scammer, not about my upcoming nuptials. That’s certainly going to be an adventure, but the real action came about when Grace told me she’d been cleaned out in one of those work-from-home scams.
Things got ugly when my buddy Chance Logan and I started following up on a lead. One thing led to another and the next thing you know we were investigating some girl’s murder. That all happened because Grace got a little greedy and thought she could make some quick bucks.
Do you have any friends/sidekicks helping you out?
Chance Logan is my sidekick in this adventure, as he has been in the last few. We also got an able assist from our girlfriends. Benni Kapono is my bride-to-be and she’s good friends with Chance’s girlfriend Lexie. When they put their heads together, they’re a formidable team.
Do you have any special skills to fight crime?
I’m a former skip tracer, so I was used to finding people who didn’t want to be found. But my strongest skill is my unwillingness to let things go. Some people say I’m like a dog with a bone. The problem with that analogy is that I can’t bark.
Are you a full-time detective or do you do something else?
I’m only a part-time sleuth. Although you’d never know it from the number of murders my friends and I keep stumbling across. My real job is being the apartment manager for the Sunsetter Apartments in Honolulu. It’s a sweet little gig that doesn’t take a lot of time—please don’t tell the owners I said that!
What are you most frightened of in this story?
The thing that scares me most in this story is Skye Pilkington-Winchester. You see, Skye’s a bit of a barracuda when it comes to men and really likes my friend Chance. If she sinks her teeth into him and he does something stupid, his girlfriend Lexie will be crushed, Benni will go ballistic, and I might as well go sit on a volcano and wait for the fires to settle down.
Is there anything funny that happens to you or another character in this story?
There’s always something funny going on in these adventures. I don’t plan it that way—well, maybe my writer does. Anyway, at one point I get kidnapped by an old geezer named Steward Johnson. He takes me on a wild ride through the streets of Honolulu as we’re trying to track down a bad guy. Personally, I wasn’t happy about the whole thing. And that’s why I’m planning a little revenge trip on my writer. I’m looking for drivers. The crazier the better.
If I were to choose an actor or actress to play your part in a movie, who would that be? Do you see any other characters in your story as actors or actresses that our readers might know?
You’d probably want to choose George Clooney for my part. That’s not because of any physical resemblance—well, there is a vague one. He’s male, so am I. We’ve both got some gray hair. And he’s…nope, that’s about it. Anyway, I like his timing, the way he knows how to deliver a line and make the audience laugh.
Do you have other mysteries you would like to tell us about? Is this the first book in the series, or have you cracked a few other cases?
I’ve had a number of other cases. Things began with Photo Finish. That was a low point in my life and I was pretty grumpy. Things were turning around for me by the time Chance and I jumped on the Honolulu Hottie case. That was where we first met Skye and Chance nearly—well, you know.
Do you have any final words you would like to leave with our readers?
Final words? You mean like a parting shot? And here I thought I’d been on my best behavior. Let’s try this—my writer can be a real slave driver at times. He keeps me busy with solving all these murders when I should be sitting back and enjoying life. But since I have to solve so many crimes, why shouldn’t my fans enjoy them? Imagine that—me, with fans.
Let’s give your author a chance to speak. Anything you would like to add?
McKenna seems to have forgotten who created him. However, I can understand a guy who’s living in paradise getting a bit testy over having to fight crime so often. And while I’ve got a moment, I’d like to mention that I also write the Seaside Cove Bed & Breakfast Mystery series featuring B&B owner Rick Atwood and his precocious ten-year-old daughter Alex—who also likes sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong (murder cases!).
About the Author
Terry Ambrose is a former skip tracer who tracked down deadbeats for a living. He’s long since turned his talents to writing mysteries and thrillers. Several of his books have been award finalists and in 2014 his thriller, “Con Game
Author Links:
Website: http://terryambrose.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/suspense.writer
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6447968.Terry_Ambrose
