But the notion of these elderly ladies doing something so daring takes America by storm and everyone wants to talk to them. With the arrival of the police and the neighbours the skinny dipping idea comes to a rapid end. First up is skinny dipping! Alice has a pool in the garden, with the lights out is dark and secluded and in July it is warm enough to strip off down to their wrinkled birthday suits and not be seen, or catch cold! As they pluck up courage to get in they smell a bad odour coming from the garden shed and discover the body of the mechanic of a local celebrity driver. Now they are in their 70s they realise that they may be running out of time and maybe they should get a wiggle on and complete the list. My Thoughts: Elizabeth Perona is the father/daughter writing team of Tony Perona and Liz Dombrosky and as a team this is their debut novel.įive close friends created bucket lists when they turned 60 and never really did anything with them. Unfortunately for Charlotte and Francine, before they can discover who really killed the man, they must negotiate neighbourhood tours of the crime scene, press coverage of their skinny dipping, an angry Homeowner’s Association, a disastrous appearance on Good Morning America, media offers sought by a hungry publicist, and a clever killer. When a dead body flops out, it’s an answered prayer for Charlotte, since the first item on her list is to solve a murder. A pungent smell emanating from the pool shed provides a perfect distraction.

But as Francine observes, the jittery members seem more obsessed with body issues and elaborate preparations than actually stripping down and getting in the pool. Opens: … Francine McNamara loitered by the pool alone …īlurb: The septuagenarian women of the Summer Ridge Bridge Club have gathered in secret late one July night to check skinny dipping off their bucket lists.

The Bellamy Bird by Clare Havens