A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #9 - You'll Die Tomorrow

One thing I remember liking about this series when it was first published, and I admittedly still enjoy it today, is that the authors who wrote more than one book in this series managed to use titles that immediately identified with the author and the character of the story.  For Marjorie J. Grove (a/k/a Martin Grove), each of the books with Maxine Reynolds was titled with "You'll Die..." something.  First, it was You'll Die When You Hear This ... then it was You'll Die Laughing.  Now, with Grove's third book in the series (numbered nine if the actual ongoing numbering of the series), we get another variation of this title. And since this book picks up literally right after Grove's second mystery in this series, it feels like returning to visit old friends again ...

You'll Die Tomorrow opens with Max waking up after a long flight home from London, where she was solved her last murder mystery.  In fact, there is a specific footnote referencing the last book on page 8, in case readers forgot.  Dealing with jet lag, the Hollywood gossip columnist must get up for her meeting with everybody's favorite agent, Ken Carson - a meeting that sets the ball rolling for Max's latest mystery.  While lunching with the older man, Max meets record producer Cory Collins, who is known for his wandering eye for women, and whose marriage to his second wife is rumored to be on the rocks.  Max is determined to get the story, so when Cory invites Max to his house for a party he is hosting, she jumps at the chance.  Of course, she intends to take her boyfriend, Rob Allan, with her so that Cory will know she is off-limits.

At the party, Max meets Cory's wife, Joyce (nicknamed "Joycie"), a woman who clearly enjoys the lavish lifestyle her husband provides.  But Max knows that lifestyle may be in jeopardy due to Cory's unhealthy love of gambling and the amount of money he loses during his jaunts to Las Vegas.  As coincidence would have it, Max is planning a short vacation to Aruba with Rob and - well, it turns out Cory and Joycie are also headed to Aruba at the same time!  Needless to say, Max's employer tells her to keep an eye on Cory and come back with some great columns for their magazine.  None of them realized that story would find Max involved in yet another murder mystery (although, for the reader, it is no surprise, since this is a murder mystery series!).  When Cory keels over dead at a craps table in one of the Aruba hotels, it is up to Max to figure out whodunnit.  Was it the young singer whose career Cory ruined years ago when she would not sleep with him, and who is now forced to sing in Aruba hotels just to make a living?  Was it the mysterious man with the briefcase who came out of the safe deposit room at the hotel with Cory earlier in the day, and with whom he was arguing at the time?  Was it Joycie Collins, who was worried her husband would squander away all of their money before she could divorce him?  Or was there someone else involved who Max had not yet seen?

Like Grove's previous books, the murder does not actually take place until nearly half-way through the book.  Grove has a habit in her (his) stories of spending quite a lot of time describing the meals and going into considerable detail about locations.  In fact, the hotels referenced in the book along the Palm Beach area of Aruba are actual places - the Concorde hotel (referred to as "the brand new Concorde" on page 53 because, at the time this book was published, that hotel had just opened its doors - now it has been renamed to the Riu Palace Antillas); the Sheraton hotel (which is now called the Aruba Grand, a part of the RIU Palace); the Caribbean hotel (which is now the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino); the Americana hotel (which has also changed names a couple of times, now called the Occidental Grand Aruba); and the Holiday Inn (which appears to be the only hotel that still retains its original name!).  Thus, if anyone really wanted to explore the hotels and casinos mentioned in the book (and see the place where poor Cory died in the book), it is actually possible!  The casino where poor Cory is poisoned is the King International Casino in the Holiday Inn, which is what the casino was called back in the late '70s - it later became the Grand Holiday Casino, and now it is named the Excelsior Casino.  Thus, I have to suspect that Grove at some point prior to writing this mystery actually visited Aruba and was familiar with those beach front hotels.

While the previous Grove mysteries featured internal illustrations that were not as distinct and clear as many of the other books in this series, this particular one offers some beautiful art inside (as well as on the cover).  No signatures on any of the illustrations identify the artist, and there is, of course, no credit given on the copyright page.  However, if you have learned by now to really pay attention to the details in the internals, as well as on the cover, you will see that this one gives up some fairly easy-to-spot clues as to the killer's identity.  In fact, the mystery itself makes the killer's identity pretty obvious, although the motive is not necessarily what one suspects.  And unlike the last book, the cover scene does actually occur in the book (albeit with more characters and Max is not quire so close to the deceased).  

Another satisfying read - and looking ahead, it appears I will have a bit of a wait until Grove's next mystery, since the next one does not come along until book 18, some nine books after this one!

RATING:  8 black Las Vegas gambling chips out of 10 for giving readers a trip to Aruba for a somewhat easy mystery to solve!