 |
Ric and Elaina’s investigation into the sudden death of Mario, one of Elaina’s yoga students, is a dive into Sydney’s shark-infested waters. Elaina and her student, Ric, team up to ease Elaina’s mind about what happened to Mario and how she’s involved. They enlist homeless men, professors, and bouncers, among other informants, and travel by ferry, bus, and car all over the city, tracking clues into Mario the accountant’s life. However, the more they find out, the more they become targets themselves.
Ric and Elaina’s detective work is a tour into a rich urban history. Each chapter details a new spot and a different mode of transport. Episodes build on each other, adding clues to the deepening plot surrounding Mario that involves real estate, casinos, and offshore businesses that someone doesn’t want the pair to know about. The audiobook’s narrator cinches the story’s diverse appeal with at least twenty different accents and voices. An Italian restaurateur and a mayor with a theater background stand out. The climax cinches Ric and Elaina as the hero and heroine, surpassing Mario as the story’s heart. A boat chase ups the ante between the pair and their pursuers as well as heats up the charge between Ric and Elaina themselves. A search for justice for Mario is a search into their own hearts, making for a romantic hook. Their collegial love affair is a winning match for Sydney's underbelly, which is exposed in cinematic descriptions.
Sydney eases into winter over the course of the story, but the community coming together around Rick and Elaina’s project (along with the project of their coupledom) warms the ending. A potluck with all the informants before Sydney’s famous winter light extravaganza concludes the tale in a dazzling, celebratory summary. The case is solved with more cases promised for the competent duo.