Take The Rhythm Of The August Rain: A Novel (A Shadrack Myers Mystery) Executed By Gillian Royes Expressed As E-Text

love Gillian's "Shad Series", She brings me back into Jamaica with its musical language and colorful characters, plus the shady government, I like these cozy mysteries, because they avoid the blood and guts and focus on solving a problem, Just gave a copy of her third book to new friends who are natives of Jamaica, This was my favorite of all the books so far, The events were more realistic than in the previous novels and the relationships between the characters has really gelled, I liked the way Royes told the history of the Rastas without stereotyping, MY big compliant is that afterbooks of Beth begging for a wedding we were shorted any details, This book was all about Eric's ex and daughter and Beth and the wedding were almost non existent, Why do I care about Shannon's ridiculous pining for a relationship that has been over foryrs when Beth and Shad are finally having the wedding!!! I received an ARC copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, the good. Royes draws good characters and she writes well, This is the fourth in the series and although I have not read the first three I can get a sense of the history these characters share and a sense of Jamaica as a place.
I will also say that the Rastas are an interesting people and I learned quite a bit about their culture and history,

But, I only gave this book two for a reason, As a mystery/thriller it is a complete snoozefest, I was overof the way in and literally nothing had happened but the characters driving around talking to people and reminiscing about past events, none of which were particularly interesting.
The one slightly interesting, but completely predictable, “mystery” if you can even call it that, was wrapped up in a few pages toward the very end of the book in an almost comically lowimpact fashion.
No tension whatsoever. I confess that there were times when I started skimming when characters spent pages explored their feelings for each other for the umpteenth time, Basically, several likeable characters doing pretty much nothing for aboutpages,
I liked this book very, very much, I learned a lot about Rastafarians, and would like to learn more, I love the main character in this series, Shad, and all the support characters, This book was very satisfying as to the developments in some important story lines, I recommend the books in this series highly! I hope the author has another one for us soon, A nice romance with a mystery subplot
To most people Jamaica is the land of “Dont worry be happy”, but for Jamaican bartender Shad Myers and his boss Eric life is far from worryfree.
They have gone into partnership with a wealthy investor and are about to close on a deal to rebuild Erics former hotel that was destroyed several years earlier, an exciting but certainly worrisome venture.
Their lives are complicated further because Shad is about to marry his beloved Beth, the woman with whom he has been living happily for many years and with whom he has fathered four children and Eric is about to be visited by not one but two former loversat the same time.
Simone, his most recent love, is coming for a visit, but longago love Shannon has announced she also is coming for a visit, bringing their twelveyearold daughter Eve, whom Eric has seen only three times.
Shannon is a writer who will be doing an article on the Rastafari religion and culture and also conducting a related investigation involving an American woman who died somewhat mysteriously in Jamaica years earlier and whose body disappeared from the hospital before it could be claimed by her family.

The atmosphere and the characters were the high points of the book, The Jamaican setting and culture were wonderfully portrayed, down to the authentic patois spoken by the characters, As a bonus, I picked up some very interesting information about the Rastafari and their practices, such as their convention of saying “I and I” where other people would say “I”.
They do this to emphasize their belief that Jah God is always with them, The characters were sympathetic, and the tales of their relationship challenges also kept up my interest, whether it was Shads fear of making the final commitment of marriage to the woman he knows he loves or Eric and Eve trying to work out their fatherdaughter relationship.

In comparison, the mystery investigation took a backseat and was not what held my interest, I dont know whether this is true for the other books in this series, but the reviews of the earlier Shad Myers novels make me think they are similar in tone.

If you want to chill out Jamaicastyle and are looking for a nice summer read that will make you put on the Bob Marley and sip a rum punch, mon, you will enjoy this book.
If you want a suspensefilled thriller, this is probably not your best choice,

Yay for discovering a new to me mystery series that I like! This one makes me want to go back to Jamaica, especially the Blue Mountain/ Port Antonio areas.


This was my first read by author Gillian Royes, and I must say that being West Indian by heritage, I truly enjoyed the setting and the characters conversation the patois spoken was on point.
With that being said, I must also say that I actually learned a few things from the book as well about the Rastafari,
I liked the characters, and could identify with them the book was an easy read overall, and I enjoyed it,
To add ambience as I was reading, I put on some instrumental Bob Marley, and could picture myself within the book, conversing with the characters as we tried to solve the mystery that unfolded.

I would recommend this book to someone looking for an easygoing, quick, simple read,
Nice writing but advertising this as a mystery is a mistake, Yes, there's a bit of a mystery but it's a very slowmoving portrait of Jamaican

island life, Interesting information, characters I cared about but I just kept hoping the pace would pick up and ended up skipping to the end, Another wonderful book in this mystery series based in Jamaica, A dead body a search for the killer all based ito the rhythm of Jamaica, Shad Myers, the loveable bartender and town sleuth of Largo Bay, hunts down clues to a womans mysterious disappearance in this fourth riveting novel in the Shad detective series.


Shannon, a photojournalist on assignment for a Canadian magazine, arrives in the impoverished but beautiful fishing village of Largo Bay, Jamaica, But shes seeking more than a tropical paradise: She wants to know why a Canadian woman named Katlyn went missing there more than three decades ago,

So she calls on Shad“bartender by trade, investigator by vocation, and unofficial sheriff of Largo Bay” Publishers Weeklyfor help, Together, they delve into Rastafarian life and history while preparations are being made for Shads wedding and the groundbreaking of his new hotel, But the deeper they get into the story, the deeper they get into trouble, And its clear that whoever wanted Katlyn buried all those years ago will do anything to keep the truth buried as well

As in her previous novels The Sea Grape Tree, The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks, and The Goat Woman of Largo Bay, Gillian Royes transports readers into a beautiful Caribbean setting where life is cheap but religion is strong, and one man is still trying to solve the islands relentless questions.
Interesting history of the Rastafari Movement,
The mystery seemed to take backstage to the goings on in Jamaica and the main characters, Liked this book, have not read any of the others in this series, Still was not hard to get right into the situation, Seems that Gilian Royes must have spent a lot of time and research for this book, The knowledge of the peoples of Jamaica, especially the Roatafarians, their practices and culture is evident, Nice mystery romance, twists along the way to keep your interest, A cozy novel. Gillian Royes was born in Kingston, Jamaica, She attended Colorado College and later went on to the University of Wisconsin and Emory University, where she earned a doctorate in American Studies, Royes is the author of The Goat Woman of Largo Bay, Business Is Good, and Sexcess: The New Gender Rules at Work, She lives in the U, S. Virgin Islands. .