Murder in the Raw by C.S. Challinor

Reviewed by Patricia Reid

Scottish barrister, Rex Graves, accepts an invitation from Paul and Elizabeth Winslow, to fly to Plage D’Azur Resort, St. Martin’s, French West Indies. Sabine Durand, a French actress, has mysteriously disappeared from the resort. Rex thinks it should be an interesting case and a beautiful locale. He is very much surprised when he was greeted by a naked Paul Winslow. Rex was shocked to find out the resort is a nudist resort.

Sabine had taken a solitary walk before dinner and never returned. This was not unusual since she normally took a walk every evening. A cell phone was found on the beach as well as a gold ankle bracelet belonging to Sabine and a strip of bloody gauze believed to have been from the garment she was wearing that evening. The cell phone was identified as belonging to Sabine’s husband. Even though it was a nudist resort most of the guests wore something at their dinners and Sabine had been expected back for dinner. The local police felt that she had probably taken a swim and been attacked by sharks.

As Rex interviewed the various guests at the resort, he found that he really was coming up with more questions than answers. A very unusual mystery and one that holds the readers interest as suspicion shifts from one person to the next. Rex recovered from his initial embarrassment after discovering he would be staying in a nudist colony to move forward and bring the truth to light.