Hot Tub of Death and Back Story by Alondra DelToro
Rita Strombeck’s first novel in her “A Sunshine Valley Mystery” series, Corpse in the Cactus: A Sunshine Valley Mystery takes place in Arizona and follows the couple, Adam and Eve, as they figure out who killed the owner of Sunshine Valley’s most popular restaurant.
One day while Eve Iverson was at the restaurant, she noticed that the piece of artwork that she had hung up there was gone! It was this discovery that led her and her husband to find the restaurant owner's dead body.
Now, the couple has gotten themselves involved as the key figures of a widespread homicide investigation! This, fortunately enough, does not hinder Eve from becoming increasingly successful in her art career. While in the field, however, she comes across a good handful of individuals that appear to have had a motive and the opportunity to commit murder...
As tensions rise, the Iversons come to the realization that all is not what it appears to be here in this town––including those that live there. Will the Iversons be able to work together to find the person responsible for the CORPSE IN THE CACTUS?
Considering that the series takes place in the West (Arizona), I’ve decided to look into the history of the “Wild West”, since there are troupes in the series that is reminiscent of this period of time.
The Wild West was the most memorable for their cowboys and gunfights- violence essentially. So here are a few articles and videos that I’ve found that touch base on these topics surrounding the Wild West:
Outlaws & Lawmen of the Wild West
How 'Wild' was the Wild West (Short Animated Documentary)
9 Unsolved Mysteries of the Wild West
Another topic of interest is that concerning Eve’s career in art. Here are some articles that discuss influential people in the art world today!
The Most Influential People in the Art World.
Looking to start a career in the world of art yourself? Check this article out for a glimpse of what you may have to do to get things started:
How to make money in the art market: top collectors reveal their secrets
Rita Strombeck’s second book of the Sunshine Valley Mystery series is Hot Tub of Death: A Sunshine Valley Mystery. At first glance, Sunshine Valley seems to be a quaint and quiet small town in Arizona’s picture-perfect Sonoran desert. The retired married couple, Adam and Eve Iverson moved to this seemingly tranquil community in hopes of pursuing their individual passions.
Then, one day, their plans are abruptly canceled when they come across the body of Olive Howell, the most detested and feared woman in the valley…. floating in the community hot tub.
In the days that follow, the talk of the town naturally revolved around the death of Olive Howell. At first, it was ruled as an accidental death, but this conclusion didn’t sit right with the Iversons. Driven by her intuition and keen perceptiveness, Eve begins to sort through a series of clues that clearly indicate murder. Soon enough, she discovers that several people had both strong motives and opportunities to kill Olive. Adam, however, decides to use his own reasoning to conduct a separate investigation.
The couple, following their individual instincts and hunches, work together to sort out who among the seemingly harmless residents of Sunshine Valley could have created the HOT TUB OF DEATH!
Could Olive Howell really have died by accident? I looked into the possibilities of dying in a hot tub and turns out there is a scientifically explained way that that could happen! The deadly combination that makes it possible is by adding alcohol into the mix. The hot tub alone already relaxes the body enough ( which results in “vasodilation” a.k.a the expansion of blood vessels) and when you add alcohol into your system it just adds further to your body’s blood vessel dilation. Your legs fall victim to the most blood vessel dilation because they remain stagnant for a good period of time while you sit in the hot tub. This creates a problem if you get up too quickly because when you do this, you don't give your body time to circulate all that blood that has pooled in your legs up to your brain which then proceeds to cause you to pass out!
Here is an article that discusses the accidental death of two individuals and the reasoning behind it as explained by a medical professional.
Deaths highlight dangers of hot tub poaching
Here is another article that discusses some quick stats concerning hot tub incidents in America: