Description
'Whenever I see a girl with a gold bikini, I think of Princess Leia. Here on the Gold Coast, gold bikinis are common, so I think of Princess Leia a lot.' Eighteen-year-old Olivia Grace has deferred her law degree and ducked out of her friends' gap-year tour of Asia. Instead, she's fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a private investigator, following in the footsteps of Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars - who taught her everything she knows, including a solid line in quick-quipping repartee, the importance of a handbag full of disguises, and a way of mixing business with inconvenient chemistry.
Playing Watson to the Sherlock of her childhood friend, detective agency owner Rosco (once the Han Solo to her Princess Leia), Olivia pursues a routine cheating husband case from the glitzy Gold Coast to Insta-perfect Byron Bay, where she faces yoga wars, dirty whale activism, and a guru who's kind of a creep. Olivia Grace is a teenage screwball heroine for the #metoo era, and 'The Girl with the Gold Bikini’ is a body-positive detective romp, rich with pop-culture pleasures.
Review
Olivia is just out of high school when she decides to defer her law degree and apply for a job as a private investigator instead. Her childhood ‘friend’ Rosco runs the fledging agency on the Gold Coast, and Olivia is determined to prove to him that she has what it takes to make it as a private investigator.
Sent off to Byron Bay, Olivia is thrust into the world of surfing, yoga and sushi in her quest to expose the truth in her mysterious first case. But there are many twists in this tale. Can Olivia stop the evil ‘McSushi’ empire (who may well even use whale and dolphin meat in their products) from opening in Byron Bay?
Olivia is a lead character who is determined and full of energy, and although she is 18 this will appeal to any reader 14 and older who likes mystery with the potential for romance!
Reviewed by Rob
