Death on the Lanai by Rachel Ekstrom Courage Series: Golden Girls #2
Published by Disney Publishing Worldwide on June 2, 2026
Genres: Fiction / General, Fiction / Humorous / General, Fiction / Media Tie-In, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / General
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
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The New York Times bestselling series that began with Murder by Cheesecake continues with an all-new Golden Girls cozy mystery!
When the Girls accept a very strange invitation to a lavish party on a remote island estate, they find that murder has a way of ruining even the most glamorous of evenings.
The invite delivered to 6151 Richmond Street was short on details, only promising to celebrate "the greatest artist of the century" and accompanied by a jewel-encrusted brooch-the whole package a brand of mysterious opulence that another Saturday night of gin rummy just can't match.
Blanche Devereaux's passionate dalliances are as plentiful as hot Southern nights, and surely one can't be expected to remember all of one's suitors. But when the Girls disembark the party's ferry at a small Biscayne Bay island and meet their secretive host, the memories come flooding back- she a Radio City Rockette in her twenties, he the poor artist who could offer her nothing but his love. Fate drove them apart, but Declan, now a famous artist El Toro, professes that Blanche has always been his muse.
Featured prominently in his artworks and central to El Toro's return to the apex of the art world, Blanche is thrilled to have been such an inspiring figure to this man. But looking around at a party filled with those who have made their livings off the artist's fame-his assistant, his art dealer, his greatest critic, and more-Dorothy isn't so sure they're welcome on the island after all.
When a tropical storm knocks power out across the island, an optimistic Blanche proclaims that everyone looks better by candlelight anyway. But when Declan is found dead the next morning, all eyes are on her, his supposed muse of thirty-plus years. Trapped at the estate with the other guests-suspects all-the Girls must band together to find the true killer and get back to pleasant evenings of card games and cheesecake.
If you remember that I struggled a bit with the first book in this new series Murder by Cheesecake. Growing up with The Golden Girls, both book hit all the nostalgia feels for me. One thing that bothered me more with Lanai than it did with Cheesecake was the characterization of the ladies. Blanche was more more narcissistic and downright mean. I mean they all had flaws originally that I think we just glossed over with the lore and nostalgia of the series and Courage doesn’t hold back on those characterizations. The question is does she cross the line or does she just not hold back on the flaws these ladies have? Is she killing the vibe or just being real? I’ll let you decide that. Also, Blanche is just a hot mess. A man she’s not seen, and probably really not even thought about, in a lifetime is suddenly like a deep relationship that she’s clinging to like it’s going out of style and they were committed to each other. Annoying? Yes. On point for Blanche? Also, yes.
I do have to complain about a formatting issue. And it’s literally just complaining. I read the eBook via Libby. And throughout, like constantly, it’s like the hyphenated words that were formatted as they wrapped lines were in the middle of lines. Am I explaining that well? You know like cookbook became cook- book. In the middle of a line. Constantly. Throughout the entire book. Annoying complaint. OK moving on. This is definitely a cozy mystery. Very Scooby Doo vibes. A little too easy, a little zany, but a whole lot of fun. I didn’t really piece it together but honestly, and I know this is difficult to believe, I didn’t even try. I just wanted to roll with nostalgia and vibes. And just like Scooby Doo once it’s all figured out by the ladies everyone just comes clean and tells it all. As a cozy mystery should be.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Lanai a bit more than Cheesecake. It didn’t feel quite as contrived. It didn’t give too much over detailed descriptions . . . they were there but reined in some which was nice. It’s not perfect but it hits the right spot. It takes me back to my youth while also giving me a mostly wholesome read. I mean Blanche will Blanche and Sofia will sarcasm with the best of them. I’m interested to see where the series goes next. Blanche and Rose have had their moments but honestly, the one I’m most looking forward to is Sofia.
About Rachel Ekstrom Courage
Rachel Ekstrom Courage is the New York Times, USA Today, and American Booksellers Association bestselling author of Murder By Cheesecake: A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery (Hyperion Avenue/Disney) and the Young Adult thriller Nothing Bad Happens Here (PRH/Delacorte). She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband (the children’s book author Nick Courage) and their family.
By day she’s the founder of Courage Literary, advocating for books and authors that make the world a better, smarter, and more interesting place. As a literary agent, Rachel has represented New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Amazon Best Sellers. Her clients include GoodReads Choice Award Winners, IndieNext Picks and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections as well as finalists for the Lambda Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the ITW Thriller Award.
Rachel has led workshops, keynoted, and appeared on panels at Tinker Mountain Writers Workshop, The Loft’s Wordsmith Conference, Grub Street, SCBWI’s Winter Conference, Thrillerfest, Writer’s Digest, Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, University of Pittsburgh, Chatham University, Seton Hill University, LWC}NYC, Jambalaya Writers Conference, South Carolina Writers’ Workshop, New England Crime Bake, PNWA, RWA, New York Writers Workshop, Unicorn Writers Conference, Digital Hollywood, PennWriters and more. She’s also the co-founder of Littsburgh, a community celebrating the literature of Western Pennsylvania, and occasionally appears on CBS Pittsburgh to talk about books and literary events.
Her publishing career began in New York City where Rachel started out as a bookseller before becoming a book publicist, promoting mysteries and thrillers for Minotaur in the historic Flatiron building. She next took on a directorial role for Penguin’s Dutton and Gotham imprints and finally worked on blockbuster fiction and nonfiction for St. Martin’s Press (highlights of which included throwing publishing parties at Bouchercon and watching a live Oprah taping from the green room). Along the way, she enjoyed stints as a fifth-grade teacher and as a bookseller at a children’s bookstore inside FAO Schwartz.
When she’s not busy working on books, you can find Rachel playing with her dog and restocking her Little Free Library.
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