Isla Mysteries 1-5 recommended for travelers and mystery lovers!

Mikel Miller rated it: really liked it

Recommends it for: travelers, mystery lovers

If you can’t get away to a tiny island in the Caribbean, reading books set on the island is the next best thing. Here’s a Kindle boxed set of five books describing life on Isla Mujeres off the Yucatan peninsula and also providing some good mystery stories.

Tropical paradise? Check.
Pirates and buried treasure? Check.
Two 30-ish women looking for the treasure while being shadowed by mysterious men? Check.
Island men coming to the aid of the two damsels in distress? Check.
Romance? Check, check.
A loveable stray dog that helps solve the mysteries? Check.
A happy ending? Of course.

The five books are the work of Canadian author Lynda L. Lock, who retired to the island with her husband and began publishing the series in 2016. 

As a first-time novelist, her plots and character development improved with each book. One thing that remained constant throughout the series was her attention to detail in describing places and people and events, and customs on the island.

If you close your eyes and let your mind wander, you can imagine being there with her characters on the soft sand and in the small beach restaurant where the two women work shifts. 

Overall, it’s easy reading and will make you look forward to her next book. I am. 

Isla Mujeres Mystery

Anticipated launch date for Twisted Isla is May 2020 

Treasure Isla, the beginning of the successful Isla Mujeres Mystery series!

It's a great gift when a reader takes the time to leave a review! 

North Beach, sun, sand, and turquoise water.

A Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun beach read

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2019

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

I totally enjoyed this book. The story has a nice flow. I liked the two 28-ish single ladies who are the stars of the story. I liked the restaurant owner with a secret crush on one of the ladies. 

Motos are an inexpensive mode of transport 

I liked the “moto” they tooled around the isla on (I had one when I lived in Europe, ah memories...). I liked Alfredo the crocodile. I liked the pirate connection. I liked Grandmama. And, I liked the ending in that everything was wrapped up.

There’s a lot of drinking, but I guess they’re in a resort area, and that’s what people often do. 

I found their drunken crypt “borrowing” amusing. I could actually envision two people carrying out things the way these two did. 

Sparky guarding Mundaca's tomb

I like that the author date stamps each chapter; it makes it easy to know when and how fast the story is happening. I really liked a character’s concern about his armpit odor; that’s reality. 

I learned that in Mexico, if a person is arrested, they must remain in jail until they can prove their innocence. Yikes. 

(Author's note: the law was recently changed to the adversarial system, similar to the American judicial system. Defendants can now be released until their trial.)

Another thing I liked: Before the story started, the author dedicated the book to her husband. 

It was a beautiful dedication and also provided the details one might like to know. 

Crocodile, he/she lives at the Mundaca Hacienda

I really appreciated that she shared it. Also, at the end of the story, the author discusses some inspiration for parts of the story. I appreciated that, too.

Available in online stores

Coles Penticton

Coles Vernon

Ruby Blues Winery

SS Sicamous & Museum

Article by Carmen Amato author of the exciting Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series

Meet Lynda L. Lock, by Carmen Amato

While you are waiting for my newest book, 43 MISSING, please welcome Lynda L. Lock, a Canadian blogger and author whose Isla Mujeres mystery series takes us to the fabled island on Mexico’s Atlantic coast, not far from Cancun. First known for her popular blog from Isla Mujeres, Lynda’s charming new mystery series features pirate gold and an ensemble cast that hangs out at a restaurant called the Loco Lobo.

1. Carmen Amato: Lynda, thanks so much for stopping by. We’re both members of the incomparable Mexico Writers group on Facebook, and you were one of the contributors to The Insider’s Guide to the Best of Mexico. I love your blog about life on Mexico’s Isla Mujeres, but you also write mysteries! Tell us how your writing career has evolved.

Lynda Lock: Hi Carmen, and thank you for the invite and for including me in The Insider’s Guide to the Best of Mexico. My writing career started with a Christmas story I wrote in grade five. It ended in a complete disaster as I nervously shredded the paper while trying to read what I thought was a hilariously funny story to my stone-faced classmates.

Over the years, I wrote hundreds of stories for my own entertainment.  Eventually, I was offered a position as a contributing writer for an American magazine, while at the same time I co-managed our bed and breakfast and worked in our craft brewery. When my husband and I retired to Mexico, I rediscovered the desire to write books. I started with a bilingual book for children and then progressed to novels. The Adventures of Thomas the Cat / Las Aventuras de Tomás el Gato won a silver award at the International Latino Book Awards in LA for Best Picture Book Bilingual in 2016.

2. CA: Your mysteries, TREASURE ISLA and TROUBLE ISLA, capture life on Isla Mujeres down to the smallest detail. How does setting influence your mystery plots?

Mary Jo P - tomb of Fermin Mundaca

LL: I am fascinated by pirates; their history, their stories, and their personalities. A few years ago our well-respected local historian, Fidel Villanueva Madrid, wrote an interesting account about the pirates that had visited and at times inhabited the Isla Mujeres.

Another islander, Ronda Winn Roberts, enjoys translating articles from Spanish to English and posting the translations on her blog to give English-speaking newcomers a sense of the island’s history. That’s how I first discovered the story of the blonde-haired Dutch pirate, Captain Laurens Cornelis Boudewijn de Graaf.

The possibility of the handsome, charming, and apparently well-educated de Graaf, nicknamed the Scourge of the West, visiting Isla over 300 years ago was the spark for TREASURE ISLA. He reportedly sailed to Isla Mujeres in 1683 after the siege of Veracruz and buried his plunder here on the island. According to all accounts, de Graaf never returned to the island but was killed in another battle. Alrighty then, let’s go find that treasure.

Inscription in garden at Hacienda Mundaca

Another pirate better known to islanders, Captain Fermin Mundaca, lived on Isla in the mid-1800s. His empty tomb really is located in the cemetery in Centro, and his hacienda covers a large part of the center of the island.

The second book, TROUBLE ISLA begins with a kidnapping of one of the main characters from Treasure Isla. It seems that the pirate’s horde is just bad luck for everyone. 

The third book, coming in 2018, explores relationships between the characters while they deal with murder, mayhem, and a hurricane.

3. CA: One thing I love about the Isla books is the wonderful cast of continuing characters and the touch of romance. The population of Isla Mujeres is quite a mix of Mexicans, expatriates, vacationers, etc. How did this inspire you?

Lisa G. at Miramar Restaurante with novels

LL: Living on an island is entertaining, no matter where the island is located. The people who inhabit islands are typically self-sufficient, resilient individuals with quirky personalities that make great characters for novels. 

We lived on a similarly sized island in British Columbia, Canada, for 17 years. One day, I intend to write a series of novels based on that experience.

Today, interactions and reactions are a never-ending source of material. Everyone has an opinion on how Isla Mujeres should be managed, and many discussions start with “my little Isla ...” 

Javi's Cantina, featured in Trouble Isla

There is an amusing rivalry between the born-on-the-island locals and foreign residents, between the home owners who live here six months of the year and the visitors who have been vacationing every year for 30 years, but everyone picks on the dreaded day-trippers arriving in hordes from the Cancun hotels.

4. CA: I wouldn’t call your books cozy mysteries, but neither are they hard-boiled crime fiction. How do you categorize them?

LL: I think they are humorous-adventure-mysteries. Is there a category for that?

5. CA: What is next for you as a blogger and a mystery writer?

LL: Book #3 TORMENTA ISLA is scheduled to be released in February 2018. The cast of characters still have a few more stories to tell. Meanwhile, the blog is a weekly labor of love and both my husband and I contribute articles. It’s a good vehicle to congratulate volunteers, to introduce old-time islanders to the newbies, to express our quirky humor, and to just generally get to know other people who love Isla Mujeres.

Ruben's Restaurante - Trouble Isla

6. CA: You can invite any author, living or dead, to dinner at your home. What are you serving, and what will the conversation be about?

LL:  Oh my, so many choices! I read a novel a day and have many favorite authors, but I will have to say Ken Follett would be my first choice. 

I am a huge fan of his Kingsbridge Series: Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, and the newest one, just released, A Column of Fire. His attention to historical detail, his characters, and his descriptions are breathtaking. 

I have read the first two books three times each and still discover things I missed in the previous readings. As for dinner, we are very basic cooks. We live on the edge of the ocean with sand drifting through our patio doors and the turquoise sea to enjoy. Our meals are basic and easy, giving us more time to soak up the beauty of our view. 

Assuming Mr. Follett isn’t a vegetarian, we would probably grill steaks and an assortment of vegetables like peppers, onions, baby carrots, and broccoli, then make a crispy salad, and set everything on the table with a couple of bottles of good wine. 

If we were lucky, the grocery store might have a freshly made baguette – not quite, but almost as good as the baguettes in France. The fresh bread would go nicely with our stash of imported New Zealand butter. (Good butter is a rare find on the island! When a supply comes in, we buy lots and stash it in the freezer.)

7. CA: Can you leave us with a quote, a place, or a concept from a book that inspired you?

LL: “No regrets. No bad memories.” It’s a favorite saying we picked up from two friends who are slightly older than us and are also in their second marriages. What it means to me is to enjoy life, learn a new skill, be open to new adventures, and don’t worry about the past. Life is short, savour your time.

​Carmen's newest book!

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The action in 43 MISSING takes up where PACIFIC REAPER left off, with Emilia at a critical crossroads that impacts every corner of her life, even as she delves into the strange disappearance of 43 college students.

Check out all of the Detective Emilia Cruz books here.​

We hit a blog milestone this week!

Notes from Paradise 500,000 page views!   

Thanks to all our faithful readers, we hit a half-million page views on our blog this week!  Woohoo! 

It is amazing how a weekly email that we started sending to twelve people in 2009 has grown to a weekly blog with anywhere from four to eight thousand readers a week. (Some articles interest people more than others.)

June 2009, we started writing weekly emails

When we started in June of 2009, it was to keep family members up to date on our newest adventure, our life in Mexico. The email list grew as family members asked if they could add their friends, and then those people wanted to add their friends. By September of 2011, the email list had grown to 500 names.

When our neighbour started her blog, Isla Mujeres News, a translation of local news in June of 2011, she suggested that we switch over from a weekly email to a blog. 

July 2014 Sunset cool down for islanders

So we did, we created a blog page.  However, many of our readers objected, saying they didn’t want to search the internet to find the articles. They enjoyed having a personal copy sent to their inbox. From September 2011 to June 2014, we posted the weekly blog and also sent it via email to our readers. It was a lot more work, but it kept everyone happy and interested.

Then in 2014, Google labelled our emails as that dreaded word – spam.  They shut down our list, refusing to deliver the weekly articles to our readers. By our estimation, we had sent out around seventy-five thousand individual emails over the five years, but never to anyone who hadn’t asked to be included in the list.  

Great Horned Owl who rode in ambulance

In the meantime, we also created two more blogs targeted to specific stories that interested us: European Adventure and Animals and Other Family Members. As you can probably guess by the titles, these are not Isla Mujeres-based stories, one being about our travels in Europe and the other funny stories about pets and wild creatures we have befriended. 

About eighteen months ago, Tony Richardson, editor of the popular online Mexico News Daily, started re-posting our blog articles. 

In his publication, our stories are reaching a wider audience, some having been shared thousands of times. Pretty heady stuff for two amateur scribblers. 

Insider's Guide to the Best of Mexico - FREE!

Several of our articles have been included in two online anthologies: Insider’s Guide to The Best of Mexico and the second Insider’s Guide. 

The collection of feel-good stories about Mexico is the brain-child of well-known novelist Carmen Amato. Check her Amazon page for a complete listing of her works. Our current favourites are the police procedurals featuring Detective Emilia Cruz in Acapulco. 

July 2014, Diego and I toasting arrival of books

In between the weekly blog articles, island friend Diego Medina and I created a bilingual book for children, The Adventures of Thomas the Cat / Las Aventuras de Tomas el Gato. Diego and I won a silver award at the International Latino Book Awards in Los Angeles for best bilingual picture book. The sequel is underway. The Adventures of Thomas the Cat

But wait, there’s more!  In 2016, I wrote and self-published my first novel, Treasure Isla. Treasure Isla is a fun beach read, an adventure set on Isla Mujeres. The e-book sales on Amazon are doing well, prompting me to write the sequel, Trouble Isla. Trouble Isla will be launched in late August of this year.

Treasure Isla and soon Trouble Isla

All of this creativity started with a weekly email to a few friends and family members. We have discovered we like to paint pictures with words. 

Most of all, we like to entertain people and provide a bit of information mixed in with light humor. 

Thank you all again for your interest in our offbeat stories. 

Cheers 

Lynda, Lawrie, and Sparky

Isla Mujeres Mystery series