Island Times Three

What's a Sanibel? From the time he accepted the job from a woman vacationing on the remote island of Sanibel off the coast of southwest Florida, Manhattan private investigator Raymond Gray should have known this would be no ordinary case.

For starters, someone with knowledge of the woman's secret must have followed her, and when the suspects begin to multiply, Raymond must rely on his trusted secretary in Manhattan to deliver vital pieces of information that will help him keep the woman and her teenage daughter safe.

As the suspects and clues evolve, the goon at the center of his investigation remains a constant, but the puzzling addition of a mysterious woman throws the case in a new direction.

As Raymond struggles with the possibility that simple blackmail could turn into something even more sinister, he realizes that the isolation that Sanibel Island brings is the one thing the thugs depend on and it's the kind of setting that could ultimately sabotage his clients' rescue.

Island Times Three is at once a mystery novel and a historical narrative.

Kathleen Jae's debut Raymond Gray Mystery introduces readers to the private detective and takes advantage of the sparsely populated and isolated island of Sanibel in the middle of the 20th century.

The island's remoteness lends itself to a classic detective story and is the ideal backdrop for a gripping tale of blackmail and murder.