View source for A Holiday to Die For by Marion Leigh

{{infobox1
|title=A Holiday to Die For
|sort=Holiday to Die For
|author=Marion Leigh
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=The third book in the Petra Minx series is a great thriller with some superb descriptions of the locations.  When you finish reading you're going to want to go to South Africa.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=304
|publisher=Troubador Publishing
|date=May 2018
|isbn=978-1789014198
|cover=1789014190
|aznuk=1789014190
|aznus=1789014190
}}

It was the holiday of a lifetime: Petra Minx was accompanying her childhood friend, Carlo, to his cousin's wedding in South Africa and taking the opportunity to see as much of the country as she could whilst she was there.  Petra works for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Carlo is from Interpol, so they're hoping for a holiday free from crime, although Carlo does seem to have rather more  interest in diamond smuggling than the average tourist and Petra's boss doesn't seem to appreciate that she's on vacation.  It's not asking much for her to track down a young girl who's the daughter of an influential friend and check that she's OK, is it?  Then there are Megan and Hilary: they're on a gap year, but Petra can't help but think that they're getting themselves into dangers they don't understand.  Still, it's not going to spoil a wedding in a vineyard, is it?  The bride does seem strangely uninvolved in the proceedings, though...

I can't believe that it's seven years since I last met Petra Minx.  You see, I've never really stopped worrying about her.  She's the sort of person who doesn't put her own wishes - or even her own safety - first.  If someone is in difficulties, or even at risk, Petra is going to be proactive in sorting the problem out.  Sometimes - well, rather often really - you wish that she'd just be a bit more ''careful'' and then you wouldn't have to turn the pages ''quite'' so quickly and stay up ''quite'' so late to make certain that she's OK.  And even though you suspect that she's going to be, Marion Leigh has a real talent for ramping up the tension and making you believe that something could go badly wrong.  Carlo gives the impression of being rather more interested in the women who cross his path, but when the going gets tough he won't be found wanting.

The problems they meet are very current too.  Diamond smuggling isn't just a problem because of the losses to South Africa, but because of where the funds end up.  As a parent and grandparent I was worried about the fate of the young women who go off travelling whilst they're still too naive to appreciate the dangers they can get into. Leigh illustrates them, but with sensitivity and there's nothing too graphic.

For me the real star of the show was Southern Africa itself.  Leigh gives us superb descriptions of the landscape and of the animals which still roam in the wild.  It's not a picture seen through rose tinted lenses: you get the bad as well as the magnificent, but Leigh's love of the country comes through and you really feel as though you're there.

It was a great story - a very easy and consuming read - and I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.  I'm still worried about Petra Minx though.

If you'd like to know more of Petra Minx's adventures, start with the [[The Politician's Daughter by Marion Leigh|first book in the series]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1789014190}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1789014190}}

{{commenthead}}