The Hollow House

In 1919 Denver, a young woman from the East is in financial straits and must find a way to support herself. Choices are limited for women at that time so Geraldine Brunton takes a position as companion to an elderly widow whose wealth comes from silver mining. Geraldine is also fleeing from her past, hoping that this employment will be the answer to her need to stay hidden from society.

The Stubbs household is not a cordial one, though, and the widow’s son-in-law and daughter would like to take control of her fortune. The strain in the family is carried over to the servants and Geraldine, who is immediately disliked by the daughter, finds herself becoming very protective of Emmaline Stubbs. In turn, Emmaline finds  much more than she bargained for in Geraldine and begins to appreciate her as more than an employee. When Emmaline has a sudden peculiar illness and then a servant is found murdered, several truths about Emmaline and her family as well as Geraldine come to light with devastating effect.

The Hollow House is a cozy, an historical and a police procedural all rolled into one . I was very interested to get a glimpse into the Denver of 1919 which had some of the modern trappings of post-World War I but also was still somewhat in wild west mode. Patterson also has done a nice job of showing the reader how the views of society, and men in particular, towards women were in a state of flux at the time. That in itself lends much uncertainty to the mystery of who the killer is and what will happen to Geraldine who is threatened by a terrible secret from her former life.

Patterson‘s setting is a bit unusual because nearly all the action takes place in the house. Her characters come to life on the page and I’d love to hear more about them. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any indication that there will be a sequel but one can hope.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, January 2012.

The Heirloom  Murders

A collections curator for an open air museum in Wisconsin, Chloe Ellefson is back in the states after breaking up with her Swiss boyfriend. When he contacts her saying he’s on sabbatical only an hour’s drive away, Chloe’s life gets complicated, especially since she’s involved now with part-time policeman Roelke McKenna. When a suicide brings these characters, along with the victim’s sister, husband, and various others onto a collision course,there’s a fine mystery to figure out. Roelke can’t let go of thinking “something” is off with the suicide. Did the victim shoot herself or did someone else do it for her?

The setting for this book, an Old World Wisconsin museum, is an unusual and interesting aspect. The characters, except for conflicted cop, Roelke, did not capture my imagination as much as I would’ve liked, and I’m still trying to figure out why the book was set in the 1980s. It’s not really a historical, as such. Not that there’s anything wrong with the ‘80s. It’s just a little odd. But it was fun reading about driving old beater Ford Pintos, having to find pay phones, and do research by rummaging through drawer files instead of computers. As a bonus, heritage garden seeds play an important role in the mystery, which helps lift this cozy out of the ordinary and make it relevant today.

Reviewed by Carol Crigger, December 2011.

Murder Half-Baked

Real estate agent Ellen McKenzie is in the midst of preparations for her wedding to Dan Dunham, the local police chief, and has to contend with the horror of a wedding dress, ruffled hoopskirt and all, her mother has sent to this forty-something bride. The wedding is just a few weeks away, finding a caterer is proving to be the seemingly impossible dream and there’s a problem with the wedding cake, a big problem.  Thanks to Ellen’s and Dan’s moms, the guest list is growing past the point of no return and even the flowers aren’t going to be what Ellen wanted.

In the meantime, Grace House, a home for women who are in a difficult time in their lives and in need of some assistance, is bursting at the seams. Ellen has been asked to sell the current house and find a bigger one, not an easy task in the currently stressed real estate market.  Dr. Owen Sadler’s wife, Francis, left a legacy to Grace House and, if  Owen donates more as expected, the board of directors will have the funds needed to pay for a new location.

Unfortunately, Dr. Sadler won’t be making that donation. There is no shortage of people who don’t like the unpleasant man and one of them has apparently bashed his head in at the cemetery.  Not long after, Grace House burns to the ground and arson is suspected.  Dan and Ellen offer their home as a temporary haven for the residents of Grace House and that puts Ellen right in the middle of the investigation whether Dan likes it or not.

Murder Half-Baked would seem, on the surface, to be in the “cozy” subgenre but that label doesn’t quite do full justice to this story.  Much attention is paid to the grim facts of domestic violence and dark family secrets and the author blends those themes well with the usual cozy attributes. The result is appealing and a bit edgy. I must also commend the author, and perhaps her editor, for a job well done when it comes to writing style and the quality of the actual product—what a pleasure it is to read a good story with attention paid to such pesky details as grammar and spelling!

Delaney has given her fans a nice follow-up to And Murder for Dessert and I will look forward to the next in the series as well as the first in the new series she has making the rounds with her agent.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2011.

Dumpster Dying

Dumpster Dying by Lesley A. Diehl, is a smartly-paced page turner, with more attractions than a three-ring circus.  Ms. Diehl, who must be a juggler in her spare time, keeps many plates spinning in the air, in the form of plot twists and multi-layered character studies.

Diehl’s accomplishment lies in not making Dumpster Dying a confusing blur of people and situations, but in creating a solid backdrop of Central Florida life, a cowboy life that has all but faded into the past, paired with the golfing life of the country clubs of today, and then bringing out the foibles of the native flora and fauna, which both complement and conflict with one another.

Emily, a snowbird who is in peril from page one, is bar tending in order to eat and keep a roof over her head, while she fights in court over the contested will of her deceased life partner.  So much for what she thought would be her golden years.  Murder, the secret lives of close friends, and the unexpected arrival of adult children further complicate Emily’s life. The old south, and Florida is the old south, has its own way of taking care of business, as Emily and the reader soon find out.

Reviewed by Marta Chausée, October 2011.

Deadly Currents

Put on your wetsuit and personal flotation device and get ready for a whitewater adventure in Colorado. Steer clear of the rocks and the murder. The debut novel in the Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventure mystery series by Groundwater takes you on a ride fraught with danger at every bend.

In the whitewater rapids of Colorado’s Arkansas River, Tom King falls out of his raft. Mandy Tanner, ranger and river guide, rescues him but King dies anyway. Mandy subsequently finds out King died from poisoning. Who killed him? The suspects are numerous. The wife had motive because Tom cheated on her. The mistress hated that Tom wanted to go back to his wife. The son Tom refused to help financially. The environmentalist who was against Tom’s plans for a golf course. The realtor in competition with Tom for land and water rights. Maybe it was one of Mandy’s own crew of river guides. She navigates her way through the list while also dealing with her uncle’s failing rafting business. Soon, she finds the water isn’t the only danger she has to face.

I must mention the cool and appropriate name of the author. What else but a river adventure would you expect someone named Groundwater to write? She did some excellent research to bring a lot of aspects of life on the river, the dangers, and the technical know-how. This is a cozy with a few instances of foul language, but not enough to turn you off. She’s learned her craft well and moved the story along with each chapter to a fine climax and conclusion. I look forward to another novel from this author.

Reviewed by Stephen L. Brayton, September 2011.

Dumpster Dying

Emily Rhodes is, as Detective Stanton Lewis likes to think, “Not much bigger than one of Santa’s Elves.” She’s petite and blond, cute as a button, on the young side of fifty and on the wrong side of luck when her love of ten years keels over from a heart attack.

Bartending at the Big Lake Country Club in the heart of Florida cowboy country seems like a fit, she gets paid, likes her boss Carla, and there’s always golf with some girlfriends when she can work it in.

Unfortunately, life gets complicated after a late night shift and the garbage that won’t fit into the dumpster soon shows why: there’s the body of a nasty customer in it. She has every intention of calling the police, but the door is locked behind her, leaving her stranded without keys or cell phone. Fortunately, the local deputies show up because someone anonymously called it in, and doesn’t she look sweet for the crime?

But, as they say, wait…. It gets better.  The good news is that her boss, Carla, used to be a practicing attorney, and with the chutzpa of Godzilla, manages to spring Emily  from the local police station. The bad news is that Carla soon becomes a suspect because, like most people in town, she hated the guy. And, to add to Emily’s stress, it looks like she’s going to have to fight her lover’s ex  in court for his modest home and meager estate, and where’s she going to get the money for an attorney?  Carla’s dad, despite living in a rest home so he’ll have women to chase, is still a practicing attorney, or at least he is when he’s interested, or likes the client.  He likes Emily, so as a favor he decides to represent her against the ex-wife and the possible arraignment for murder.

I was charmed by the family dynamics in this book; Emily and her newly found biological daughter, and Carla, her dad and her son. There was enough humor to keep me giggling at the author’s asides about the men in the story and I was also pleased to see that Emily, who generally greets a frightful situation with hiccups, grows into a resourceful and competent amateur sleuth.Ultimately, it’s Emily’s boss, Carla, and her troubled teenaged son’s past that will become the focus of a complicated history that sweeps all of them up into a maelstrom of murder.

The plotting is tight and I loved the author’s quick wit, so I’m adding this book as one of my few highly recommended reviews.

Reviewed by RP Dahlke, August 2011.
Author of the Lalla Bains mystery series.

Mai Tai One On

Emily Johnson needed to start a new life when her marriage broke up rather badly so she moved to Hawaii to help her uncle run his restaurant, the Tiki Goddess Bar, on the island of Kauai. Favored by locals and frequently drawing tourists under Em’s management, the restaurant has finally begun to come into black ink for the first time in quite a while.

Then the unthinkable happens. A cantankerous neighbor is found face down in the luau pit and the most likely suspects seem to be Uncle Louie, bartender Sophie and Em herself. Sophie has a past that puts a target on her back and Uncle Louie had a longstanding feud with the victim. Em doesn’t appear to have much of a motive but she finds herself in compromising circumstances more than once, leading the detective to be a bit suspicious.

The bar’s free entertainment is the Hula Maidens, a group of, shall we say, well-aged ladies who will perform whenever they get the opportunity and they’re not about to let the Goddess be put out of business by such a thing as murder.  The wheeling and dealing by the murdered man’s high-powered realtor niece who has inherited his house and wants to put up a high-value mansion isn’t going to endanger their beloved bar either so they swing into action to help Em solve the case.

Before their sleuthing gets very far, there’s another murder and Em disappears. Is this a sign of her guilt or is something more sinister going on?

Throw in a handsome fire dancing detective, a Liberace-like celebrity, a 95-year-old hula dancer in a mobility scooter and a parrot named David Letterman who frequently has to sleep off a hangover and the reader is in for a treat. The descriptions of this less-commercialized part of Hawaii are enticing, reminding me of why I wish I lived on a tropical island. The mystery itself is a bit lightweight—I identified the murderer early on— but there is plenty of humor and a bit of romance, making this an ideal beach read, and I’m looking forward to the next book in this new series. I do wish, though, that Ms. Landis would indicate on her website that her books are available in independent brick & mortar bookstores as well as the chains and online.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, August 2011.

Set the Night on Fire

In her first standalone novel, following her popular Ellie Foreman and Georgia Davis series, Libby Fischer Hellmann masterfully combines contemporary suspense and historical elements in equal parts.

Dar Gantner has just been released on parole after serving 40 years in prison for his part in a bomb attack in a Chicago department store which resulted in three deaths.  He immediately attempts to locate and contact the other members of a group of which he was part, young idealists turned social activists, forming a commune in those turbulent Vietnam-era days when everything was thought possible.  But that past comes back to haunt the present, when old secrets become a threat to someone from those chaotic times.  And soon the “accidents” begin, targeting those same group members.  Lila Hilliard, a financial planner from New York in her late thirties and the daughter of Casey Hilliard, once Dar’s best friend, very nearly becomes another victim when Casey and his son are blown up inside their home [in which Lila, only by a stroke of luck and circumstance, was not present].  But soon other attempts are made on her life.  When she meets Dar, the two try to track down who is responsible.

Present times account for about the first third of the book, which then goes back over forty years to the days of Woodstock, My Lai, The Black Panthers, Jimi Hendrix, Chappaquiddick, and the Chicago Seven. The six members of the eventual commune have gravitated to Chicago from places like Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana, and all believe passionately in their cause:  to overthrow the “military-industrial complex [which] had imposed its will on a quiet little country with no provocation.”  Those days of turmoil are re-created in masterful fashion by the author, bringing them to vibrant life.

Ms. Hellmann, a Chicago native, captures its winters perfectly:  “A few snowflakes drifted down, dissolving on contact with the sidewalk, uncertain whether they wanted to be there at all.  Chicago winters were like that . . . furious blizzards followed by periods of apologetic calm.” She places an odd symbol, a “stylized Celtic knot,” randomly through the narrative, an important motif.

When the past has been filled in, and the reader is brought back to the present for the final portion of the book, the tension builds to ever greater heights, and the reader is carried along swiftly to the fully satisfying finale.  A terrific read, and one which is recommended.

[It should perhaps be noted that the book is also available in a trade paperback edition, ISBN 978-0-9840676-5-7, $14.99]

Reviewed by Gloria Feit, February 2011.

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An Uplifting Murder
Elaine Viets
Obsidian, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-45123170-3
Mass Market Paperback

The sixth and newest novel in the Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper series delivers exactly what her fans are looking for:  a breezy murder mystery, on the light side, with just the right amount of danger, humor and romance.  Josie is still single, raising her 10-year-old daughter with the help of her 68-year-old mother, with both of whom she shares a home, and dating Ted, a hunky local vet.  [A shih tzu named Stuart Little and a tabby named Harry complete the household.]

Josie, who works for Suttin Services, has been assigned by her boss, “Harry the Horrible,” to mystery-shop a lingerie store in a high-end shopping mall, an “undercover underwear adventure.”  Job done, and within minutes of leaving the shop with her friend, Alyce, they discover the dead body of a woman they had just encountered in the store and with whom they had gone to high school – someone known to have engendered the enmity of all with whom she came in contact.  This naturally leads to a wide array of suspects.  The police, however, arrest Laura, the store manager [another of several old high school acquaintances Josie encounters during the course of the book].  But Josie feels a particular obligation to this one.

Josie, knowing that Laura has a daughter who is having a difficult time with her pregnancy, and convinced that she is innocent, vows to do whatever she can to find the real murderer.  She’s told “Leave the investigating to the pros.”  But she continues, reasoning:  “People tell me things because I don’t look important or official.  The police have to read people their rights or follow department procedure.  They can’t knock on doors and ask questions like I can.  Nobody’s afraid of me.  They tell me things.”  In so doing, of course, she manages to put herself in some dangerous situations, but that’s par for the course.

The book is a delightful addition to the series, and is sure to win Ms. Viets new fans, and it is recommended.  [There is an excerpt from a new entry in the author’s Dead-End Job Mystery series, Pumped for Murder, at the conclusion of this one.]

Reviewed by Gloria Feit, February 2011.

Crying Blood

Haint is an old-fashioned word for ghost or lost soul.  Since Shaw Tucker went quail hunting on Peter McBride’s property, he feels that a haint is hounding him.  Shaw is the father of ten children and husband to Alafair and not one to take flights of fancy.  The hunting trip is brought abruptly to an end when Shaw’s dog Buttercup discovered a body buried on McBride’s property.  Shaw took a trinket from the corpse’s medicine bag.  It turns out Shaw won’t be rid of his uneasy feelings until he rids himself of the ghost that is following him.

The discovery of the body is reported to the Sheriff and the group of hunters’ returns home. Shaw goes about the everyday duties required of a landowner in Oklahoma in 1915 but he is unable to hide his concerns from Alafair.  Although Alafair does her best to set Shaw’s mind to rest he is still uneasy and fearful for his family.

Shaw’s fear escalates when he discovers that someone has stolen meat from the newly butchered pig that is hanging in the slaughtering area.  It doesn’t take Shaw long to capture the thief but his relief is short-lived.  Shaw is determined to unravel the mystery.

When Sheriff Scott Tucker invites Shaw to visit another town in search of information that will lead to the identity of the thief Shaw declines the invitation.  Alafair steps up and offers to accompany Sheriff Tucker so the two set off in an automobile to a nearby town to see what they can find out.  This fits right into Shaw’s plans.  Alafair has arranged for all of the children to be cared for in her absence.  As soon as Sheriff Tucker and Alafair are on the road, Shaw leaves home to return to the old McBride property where he plans to trick the haint into showing itself.

Crying Blood is a great addition to Donis Casey’s Alafair Tucker series.  Readers will become much better acquainted with Shaw in Crying Blood.  Donis Casey’s books always have some extras at the end so if you are thinking of butchering a hog or rendering lard or even making headcheese you will find clear instructions at the end of the book.

Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid, February 2011.

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Running on Empty
Sandra Balzo
Severn House Publishers, 2011
ISBN No. 978-0727869814
Hardcover

AnnaLise Griggs is working when she receives a call from Mama, who is really not her mother, informing her that Daisy, who is her mother, had drained all of the blood out of Mrs. Brandenham.  Mama also informs AnnaLise that the doctor says Daisy is not quite right.  Mama is Phyllis Balisteri the proprietor of Mama Philomena’s restaurant in Sutherton, North Carolina, AnnaLise’s hometown.  AnnaLise began calling her mother Daisy when she was in kindergarten and eventually most everyone called Lorraine Griggs Daisy.

Mama’s call terrified AnnaLise who could not believe her mother who was still in her fifties was beginning to have mental problems.  The trip from Wisconsin to Sutherton was a trip back in time for AnnaLise who counted memories as she made the drive.  Sutherton was preparing for the Labor Day weekend when AnnaLise arrived in town.  She soon found out that although Daisy did make a terrible mistake when drawing blood from Ema Brandenham, Ema was suffering no ill effects from the accident.

Before AnnaLise had even been in town for a day, a body is pulled from the lake.    Chuck Greystone, an old friend from school, is now Chief of Police.  Chief Greystone rules that the death was not accidental.  Soon there was a second body pulled from the lake.  As AnnaLise and her hometown friends get together, everyone has a theory as to who is behind the killings.  AnnaLise decides that she must find the killer before someone begins to suspect Daisy, who is indeed acting strangely.

AnnaLise has a varied group of friends in Sutherton including Bobby Brandenham who still lives at home with his mother Ema Brandenham, the victim of Daisy’s blood-letting.

This is a good beginning to a new series by Sandra Balzo.

Reviewed by Patricia E. Reid, February 2011.

I’m a sucker for books about gardens and gardeners, especially if they have a smart, intrepid female sleuth involved. Slugfest qualifies on all counts.

This adventure, the fourth in the series, finds Paula Holliday, owner of a Connecticut gardening business, agreeing to manage an exhibit of garden sculptures for a friend. While expecting to have a good time at the New York City flower show talking gardens and making connections, (as well as selling her friend’s work) getting drawn into a murder is a surprise. Which one of her fellow exhibitors is guilty? Plenty appear to have had the opportunity, but who has the motive?

Paula makes some new friends in Slugfest whom one hopes will reappear in the next book. Rolanda Knox, the straight arrow security guard has a surprising sense of humor; J. C. Kaufman, ready with wine, food, or a weapon, is there to “watch your back”, and of course Lucy, is delightfully zany.

Author Harris’ characters are what keeps one glued to the story. She has created a marvelous cast to people this gardening series.

Reviewed by C.K. Crigger, July 2011.