Holly tells Madeline that she thinks she may already be married. After the senior prom, Holly and her date, Marvin Dubinsky, snuck off to Las Vegas where Holly is pretty sure they got married. What’s more, Holly is just as certain that they never got a divorce. Holly lost track of Marvin in the past eight years and wasn’t really concerned about the previous marriage, even in light of her impending wedding, but she has received a threatening e-mail demanding she turn Marvin over to an unknown person, or harm would come to both of them.

Madeline agrees to ask her former lover police detective Honnett to look into the e-mails, but Holly has to agree to the weekend in paradise Mad and partner Wesley have planned.

As expected, all is not well in paradise as Holly is greeted in her room by an unwanted visitor, a body washes up on the beach during the luau and Mad learns that her nemesis from cooking school did not arrange the weekend, so who did? All during the weekend, signs of Marvin keep popping up, from a t-shirt with the inscription that translates into “Mountain Hollyhock,” Marvin’s pet name for Holly, to the Bamboo Four who think that by turning the island state into one big bamboo plantation they will no longer be so dependent on tourism.

Once again, Jerrilyn Farmer has cooked up a tasty treat for mystery fans. Holly and her sisters are delightfully dingy without being dopey. Mad and Wes learn about island cooking, the lore and recipe ideas woven seamlessly into the plot rather than just recipes listed at the end of each chapter. The mystery is very involved and there are a lot of clues to lead readers along, but none are so obvious as to ruin any surprises too far in advance.

A second, somewhat predictable subplot helps to solve everyone’s problems in an almost too pat manner, and a happy, if not smooth ending, is in the cards for Holly, her maid of honor Liz and possibly even Mad and Honnett. Madeline, a long-running character, is one of the original chicks and sassy as ever with her fans hoping she has a lot more cooking to do before turning in her spatula.

--Jennifer Monahan WInberry