Reviews for "Merryll Manning: Beachfront 'Holiday'": Merryll Manning lives six floors up from Susan Ford at a condominium in Australia. Currently Merryll is on a leave of absence from his police job with the D.A. in Miami. Susan Ford may be a hard-nosed vixen but Merryll is still in love with her and had followed her to Beachfront in the hopes of winning her back, she being his whole purpose in life. When Susan is found strangled to death in her Beachfront condo by her neighbor, Mrs. Erwin, Merryll's world is turned upside down. It's bad enough he lost the love of his life but he also finds himself under suspicion by the local inspectors. Even though Merryll is their prime suspect the local inspectors enlist his help in the investigation and he is paired up with Inspector Jarrett whom Merryll finds to be totally useless. The case soon becomes more complicated when the eccentric Mrs. Erwin, the only witness to Susan's murder, goes missing. It is now up to Merryll to put the pieces of this puzzle together before there are any more mishaps at the condominium Beachfront. John Howard Reid has a unique and very entertaining "voice". His characters are vividly drawn and the dialogue sparkles. Merryll Manning: Beachfront "Holiday" is an intriguing and immensely entertaining story to read... I enjoy Author Reid's quirky main character Merryll Manning and Merry's fanciful bumbling. Poor Merry, he always seems to be in the thick of things, like as not with all suspicion directed straight at himself but even then the label never sticks for long. In spite of all odds Manning does tend to unravel the thorny knots, locate the killer, and bring the culprit to justice. Along the way the ups and downs, tangles and snarls make for a just plain fun, enjoyable read. Perfect for these rainy Oklahoma afternoons we have been having; Writer Reid's Merryll Manning Beachfront "Holiday" is overflowing with plenty of stratagems, trickery, and intrigue. Characters, as always, are well fleshed, providing a whole new group of scoundrels, hangers-on, police officers who tend to jump to conclusions pretty fast as well as a number of helpful, but often misguided secondary characters. Between Reid's obvious wittiness and liking for the unconventional in addition to his enjoyable command of language; the Merryll Manning series holds great appeal for those who enjoy a fast paced, well laid out work filled with lots of twists and turns, meant to entertain, work. Those who enjoy mysteries are sure to be drawn right into the narrative. Those who profess to not enjoy mysteries at all, will likely find themselves chuckling, turning page after page and maybe changing their minds about that not caring at all for mysteries. Happy to recommend John Howard Reid's Merryll Manning Beachfront "Holiday". MOLLY'S REVIEWS.