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The
books in this series are formulaic but not cookie-cutter, so the series works
and remains engaging. Suitcases aren’t the only things to unpack in VANISHING
INTO THE 100% DARK. Readers can expect to be treated to: mouthwatering
chocolate descriptions, at least one murder mystery to be solved before the
wrong person is arrested, a tangle of subplots, a steal-the-show animal, a
first-edition book, a multitude of new (and reintroduced) characters, and some very
light romance. It’s a lot, particularly if one’s not familiar with the prior
books, so I don’t recommend jumping in here. Too much has happened beforehand
to lay the foundation for the relationships Felicity has established.
“How do you ask questions when you don’t
even know what you want to know?”
In VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK, we spend a lot of time inside main character Felicity’s head, which isn’t a bad place to be given she’s quirky, quick-thinking, and savvy. A few downsides are that it creates some clunky transitions into dialogue, and we see that despite how she says otherwise, Felicity is still quite insecure in her relationship with Logan. Honestly, their relationship seems a little awkward and lackluster in this installment, and despite being told their love exists and a few scenes that showed it, I didn’t really feel the affection between Felicity and Logan. I appreciate that Royer is intentional about appropriateness and how she frames the relationship, but after the build-up to Felicity choosing #TeamLogan, I would have liked some sparks to fly.
With
the international setting of VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK, readers learn some fun
tidbits about Japanese lifestyle – like their love of the local 7-11, efficient toilets
with built-in sinks on top of the tanks, and that Japanese phones must
make a camera shutter noise when a photo is taken (and the why! Wow!) I giggled every time a Japanese person asked Felicity if Galveston was near where JFK was shot and wondered if this was
pulled from Royer’s own experience there. (I recall years ago traveling to
France, when the Dallas series was all the rage, and everyone asked if I
had a ranch and horses!) It’s always tricky to organically include foreign words
and phrases, but Royer does it well and includes plenty of Japanese (and a few French
words, thanks to chocolatier, Henri) to remind readers of the setting. Given the author’s travels to Japan, I
expected fully immersive worldbuilding, but there just isn’t space for it in
keeping up with the characters and their goings-on.
From
a craft perspective, Royer shines in plotting elaborate storylines, making
everyone look like a suspect, and creating a core group of realistic characters
for the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is a solid, talented writer, and her books
have all the right ingredients to be bestsellers. Unfortunately, for me the
story’s potential is weighed down due to the need for polish and thorough
editing (to eliminate the odd overuse of the past perfect tense, comma errors,
and typos). While these issues affect my enjoyment of books, if you’re a fan of
the genre and don’t mind a few rough edges, you’ll likely find VANISHING
INTO THE 100% DARK one hundred percent charming.
I
learned early on in this series that it’s best to just go with the flow.
Readers are expected to suspend their disbelief, so I recommend doing that and
not trying to figure out the whodunits or even the why-they-dun-its and enjoy the roller-coaster ride. By the
time everything unravels, it all makes sense – and you’ll be exhausted! In VANISHING
INTO THE 100% DARK, the action, culinary delights, and Godzilla-like monsters will keep
readers entertained to the delicious end.
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