Seaplane to Sounion Cove: An Ellie Pincrest Cozy Mystery (Book #1), by Devin Todd, is a cozy mystery set in mid-eighties New York. Coastal Long Island style here means little alligators on shirts and shoes without socks, Lonesome Dove is popular plane reading, and landline calls — without caller ID — are everyday business.

When the book opens, designer Ellie Pincrest needs a break and hopes a relaxing weekend at her grandmother’s place on Long Island Sound will help her heal and rest. Work’s not the problem, Ellie’s a successful logo designer with her own company. Instead, she wants a break from her personal life. Her boyfriend, after promising to propose when he finally made partner,  abruptly dropped Ellie for a Playboy bunny / successful lawyer. You can see why she wants a relaxing little getaway.

But almost immediately, Ellie starts to notice odd things. There are quite a few  newcomers in the sleepy town of Sounion Cove, including two strangers Elle first met on the seaplane over. The two men on the plane didn’t speak and didn’t seem to know each other… but Ellie’s careful observational skills aren’t just for designing logos. Throughout the book, she notices tiny discrepancies and unusual similarities, making her an excellent investigator, and she just can’t help looking into the strange things happening around her.

I loved meeting Ellie’s spirited grandmother, Mill, who is a longtime resident of Sounion Cove and completely devoted to Ellie.  There was also a great deal of info about other eccentric and strong-willed family members who barely feature in this story, so I expect the rest of the Pincrest family will appear in later novels.

Ellie and Mill are almost immediately pulled into a showdown between would-be hotel developers and Sounion Cove traditionalists. A puzzling death sets the mystery in motion, although at first it looks like a tragic accident. Over the course of hte book, there’s a surprisingly high body count for such a small, peaceful town, but there’s no gore in this novel at all. Readers are told that a character was found dead, and given a few descriptive clues about what may have happened, but no guts or gross descriptions.

As the mystery reveals surprising connections and twists, the overall feel of this novel is a 1980s period piece. It’s so fun, whether that’s a character jogging in neon and Nike or a character reading 1980s bestsellers. This setting adds to the mystery, too. Ellie’s research can’t be done by Google in the time of Seaplane to Sounion Cove, so, investigating a suspicious character means going to the library for newspaper clippings or asking a friend to have their assistant look into a background check.

There’s almost an Hercule Poirot showdown at the end, where all the suspects and investigators find themselves at the same place for the story’s reveal. This is a satisfying conclusion where all the odd things Ellie’s seen and noticed come together in a surprising conclusion.  Seaplane to Sounion Cove promises to be the first in a cozy mystery series starring Manhattan designer (and now criminal investigator) Ellie Pincrest.

Seaplane to Sounion Cove is recommended for fans of gore-free historical mysteries like Murder at the Met, or Murder at the Mena House,  women investigators like The Widows of Malabar Hill, and 1980s retro fun like The Mall.