In Treasure Built of Sand, the sixth book in S.W. Hubbard’s Palmyrton Estate series, Audrey Nealon is thrilled to get hired to clear out an entire beach house of all its furniture and decor, so the owner can redecorate. She goes to the rich enclave of Sea Chapel to work on pricing the furniture and other household items, taking her police detective husband, Sean, for a working weekend vacation. But that night, the couple are awakened by noise on the beach, and, exploring, Sean learns that the body of a missing teenage boy has washed ashore. Soon, the autopsy shows that he was strangled. As Audrey continues to work on the house, she faces the issues of possible infertility as she and Sean have trouble getting pregnant and the domestic abuse of Donna, Audrey’s assistant.
I have always enjoyed the writing of S.W. Hubbard, and Treasure Built of Sand did not disappoint. I appreciate the way the book contains a solid mystery plot while also dealing with social issues. This is one of my favorite characteristics of the writing of Hubbard. Without giving out any spoilers, let me just say that the book deals with issues of infertility and the impact of the subsequent ways people cope with it. Further, it highlights the careful way that we must approach a person who is facing abuse and not try to tell that person what to do, since that merely subjects the person to the same domineering behavior exhibited by the abuser.
I did find that the use of characters was not as strong as previous books. I would have liked to spend more time with beloved returning characters, such as Donna and Ty, who appear but not as much as in the earlier books. In addition, I didn’t connect to the new characters as much as I usually do. However, Hubbard has a gift in general for making her characters seem like genuine people, so even her weaker characters are still effective.
The audiobook is performed by Janelle Tedesco, who makes the book highly enjoyable to listen to. In her first person narration, Tedesco truly embodies the role of Audrey and makes the listeners feel connected to Audrey’s thoughts and actions.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Treasure Built of Sand, which challenges us listeners to think about the social issues involved and face some difficult realities. In the meantime, we enjoy an exciting mystery with plenty of intrigue. I give this book five stars.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free for review purposes, but that had no influence on the content of my review.
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