The Keys: Voice of the Turtle Sacred Emblems
Paranormal Romance, Ghosts
The Wild Rose Press, Inc
August 14, 2019
242
Hours after arriving in the Florida Keys to help her cousin Keya create a turtle preserve, Ruth discovers a washed-up body and not one, but two apparitions—Maita, the angry victim's spirit, and Bart, a swashbuckling ghost. Ruth's curious ability to connect with the ghosts may help them move on, but how?
Keya is in a probate battle over her turtle-nesting beach. Land-hungry relatives want it bulldozed and developed. Like Ruth, she has a special gift—she can talk to animals. Between Ruth's help and Keya's unique ability, they work to save the property, but is it too late?
Can Keya save her beloved turtles? Can Ruth find Maita's murderer or help Bart solve his 400-year-old mystery? There's more than meets the eye to Keya's land. Add in a dashing sailor who believes in her, and Keya may have more than she bargained for….
Available at Amazon.
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Ruth is visiting her cousin Keya in the Florida Keys while her fiancé, Brett, is off on a fishing trip. Ruth is there to do a brochure for the Turtle Refuge, a place very close to Keya’s heart and her wish is to leave the property she now owns to the Refuge to protect the beach and the turtles.
Urbanization and tourism have limited the turtles’ ability to nest with beaches slowly being taken over by humans and she is determined to keep her part of the beach, a safe haven.
Unfortunately, when Keya’s husband inherited the house and surrounding property his relatives all came knocking with lawsuits in their hands and the pressure finally caused him to have a stroke and die. Now that the land has passed on to Keya the same relatives and a company determined to put up a hotel are once again pushing for ownership. Keya wants the beach to be her legacy, a place where turtles can nest safely.
Things deteriorate when Ruth and Keya discover the body of a woman who they believe was murdered but must prove it to the police. Keya has the ability to speak with animals and Ruth has the ability to communicate with ghosts so when the ghost of the dead woman, Maita appears in addition to a 400 years old explorer named Bartolome Garcia de Castillo an explorer who went down with the Regala ship Ruth knows that there is a story that both ghosts need to share before they can move on.
Helping Keya and Ruth is Auggie Erskine, Keya’s dead husband’s cousin and Ruth’s fiance’s uncle, small world. These relationships are just the beginning because the women are about to learn a lot more from Bart, things that will even make the world a smaller place and be a surprise to everyone.
A murder must be solved, a lawsuit must be settled and Keya and Auggie have to figure out why they feel so attached to each other. Lots of surprises, who the murderer is and why and if Ruth can help these two lost souls finally find peace and move on. There is also treasure, but that is something you will have to read on your own. Lots of information on turtles and lots of fish I never heard of before all point to this book being a learning experience as well as an enjoyable way to spend time during the quarantine we find ourselves in today.