Treasure Most Deadly by Terry Ambrose

Treasure Most Deadly is the fifth book in Seaside Cove B&B Mystery series by Terry Ambrose.

Rick Atwood is a ex-journalist turned owner of Seaside Cove B&B. He lives in the B&B with his eleven-year-old daughter Alex. His fiancé Marquetta works as a cook at the B&B. The whole series revolves around a sunken Spanish ship San Manuel.

Alex might be eleven but she’s as curious as a cat. In the previous four books, we saw Alex helping the local police in solving the case. Rick was an investigative journalist back in LA and is asked by the Seaside Cove mayor to help the local police. The father-daughter duo have now become the amateur sleuths of Seaside Cove.

A young journalist by the name of Adela is currently staying at the B&B. Alex doesn’t like her as she’s trying to malign Flynn’s name (Flynn is the archeologist in charge of the San Manuel excavations.) A treasure thief is found dead and one of the locals is arrested for the crime. One of the guests at the B&B saw the victim hide a bag in the bushes minutes before their death.

Determined to prove Flynn’s non-involvement in the theft of San Manuel artifacts, Alex decides to investigate. Meanwhile, Rick is also at the scene of crime and does not believe the local is capable of killing someone.

I binge read the first four books of this series last year. The main attraction of this series is the little packet of energy – Alex. She’s funny, smart and intelligent. Alex records her day-to-day activities in a journal – this is the best part of the series and real fun to read. Alex desperately wants her dad and Marquetta to get married. Like, right away! The couple want to take their time, plan and then marry but they are pressurized by Alex and Marquetta’s mum, Madeline.

In Treasure Most Deadly, we see Rick and Alex trying to find the missing San Manuel treasure. The victim was found hiding it but when Alex arrives at the scene, there’s no treasure. A couple of guests at the B&B are acting strange. Adela, who calls herself a journalist, seems to be on a secret mission. Meanwhile, another married couple seem hush-hush about their ‘recently acquired legacy’.

The list of suspects is long and the sleuthing trio (Alex, Rick and Adam) have a tough time finding the missing piece of the puzzle (treasure). As the story ends, we have a new addition to the Seaside Cove police team – I was under the impression this person was a suspect but looks like I was wrong!

The mystery is well-plotted with plenty of red-herrings throughout. I identified the killer’s accomplice (yay!). Having read the previous books of this series, I felt the suspense factor was a little low. The thrill of knowing ‘what happens next’ was almost nil. Slow-paced and repetitions of the details ruined the story a tad.

Overall, Treasure Most Deadly by Terry Ambrose was an entertaining read. If you haven’t heard of the series before, it is better to start from book #1.

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