Fist, she visited England. Then she traveled to Kentucky. From there, she went to Hollywood. Now, in this fourth and final Cassandra Mystery, amateur sleuth Cassie B. Jones a/k/a Cassandra Best is invited down to the Florida Keys to help her wealthy friend's aunt solve a mystery involving strange accidents happening to a treasure hunter. I did not intentionally choose to read this book because of the Florida connection, but it is a rather funny coincidence that this book is set in Florida, after the number of "Florida" series books I have read lately. I suppose it was fate or kismet or whatever you want to call it that drew me to this book to read. As with the other books I've been reading recently, I went into this one wondering how many, if any, actual locales would make an appearance in the book.
Treasure Beach is set on the fictional island of Sand Dollar Key. There is, however, a small stretch of land off of Siesta Key known as "Sand Dollar Island." From what I could find online, this was originally just a large sandbar that appeared when the tide was low, but over the last several years, it has apparently grown to the point where it now rests above the high tide line. (Sand Dollar Island). I'm not sure if this "island" was actually visible or known back in 1990 when this book was published, but it does indicate the only way to reach the "island" is by boat (just like in the book). However, since Siesta Key is actually located just off the shore of Sarasota on the west coast of Florida, it would unlikely be the same location, since Cassandra and Alexandra were down in the actual Keys at the bottom of the state.
The title of the book refers to the stretch of beach on Sand Dollar Island, where Alexandra's aunt lives. There is no actual "Treasure Beach" in Florida, although there is a Treasure Island off the coast of St. Petersburg. It's a beautiful place, with white sandy beaches, which was first settled back in the mid-1800s. It's name, funny enough, came from a land owner who wanted to generate interest in the area, so he and a friend pretended to discover treasure buried on the beach, and word swiftly spread about the treasure island just off of St. Petersburg beach (Treasure Island). Since this book also deals with the search for a hidden treasure, it does make quite the coincidence.
The mystery revolves around Whit Bromfield, the man who owns the half of the island not owned by Aunt Owena. Whit is a treasure hunter, and he has nearly located an old ship that went down centuries ago, aboard which is alleged to be a bountiful treasure, including a legendary golden jaguar, made with an emerald collar and two huge emerald eyes (p. 150). He and his team are close to locating the wreck, but someone keeps sabotaging all of their efforts. Cassandra agrees to help figure out who is causing the problems. There are several suspects, including the son of Aunt Owena's housekeeper, whose brother died during a horrific storm while helping Whit search for the treasure. Cassandra quickly learns how to scuba dive so she can not only solve the mystery, but also help with the search. She and Alexandra end up in quite a bit of danger, particularly when some unscrupulous men chase them with spear guns into a coral maze under the water! Needless to say, Cassandra eventually reveals the identity of the saboteurs, and in the process, finds the sunken treasure!
One thing I found to be a bit humorous was the description of the cat statute made out of gold. It was mentioned several times that it was emerald eyes, and at every mention, all I could think of was No. 75 of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, The Emerald-Eyed Cat Mystery (published 1984). In that book, published six years prior to this one, the mystery does involve a hidden treasure, but the emerald-eyed cat is a real one, and not a statue like in this one. Yet, it is an amusing coincidence (and doesn't this book seem to have a lot of them?).
Finally, there is a scene in the book, nearly half-way through the story, where Cassandra walks into her bedroom to find hanging over her bed a dead chicken. "The body was dirty gray, and the head, with its saucy red comb, flopped limply to one side. Around its neck hung a string of ragged red cloth, shells, yellow feathers, and bleached bones" (p. 69). Cassandra immediately recognizes it as a voodoo fetish. I mention this only because I recently read the fifteenth Penny Parker book (Whispering Walls), and that also featured some voodoo paraphernalia, such as ouange charms, effigy dolls, and even a warning that contained two black feathers, the wing of a bird, unidentified herbs, a bit of bone, and some damp earth! Again, we'll simply have to chalk it up to coincidence (and remind ourselves that without coincidences, these amateur sleuths would likely never solve their mysteries!).
Although the book ends with the statement that "Cassandra Best, detective, could hardly wait for her next case" (p. 155), the poor girl will have to wait forever, as this was her last mystery. Whether it was sales or simply a lack of desire to continue the series by the author, I suppose we will never know. But with this book, the adventures of Cassie B. Jones a/k/a Cassandra Best came to an end. At least the mystery was a pretty good one, letting her go out on a high note!
RATING: 9 leaky pressure valves out of 10 for a fantastic finale to the crime-solving career of yet another amateur sleuth.
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