Witness in Bishop Hill
by Sara Hoskinson Frommer
ISBN 0312302436
256 pages
St. Martin's Minotaur
November 2002
$23.95
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, August 2002

A cozy fit for the holidays.

Joan Spencer and her husband of three months, police lieutenant Fred Lundquist, are making plans for a belated honeymoon trip during the Christmas holidays when Fred's sister calls, asking Fred and Joan to come home to look after their parents while she and her husband take a break. Fred hasn't been home in a long time and Joan has never met her in-laws so they decide they'll stay at a bed-and-breakfast to at least have a little privacy.

Much to Joan's surprise, Joan's college-aged son, Andrew, asks to go---having her son along doesn't quite fit her idea of a honeymoon. Still, Fred's sister has implied that their mother is showing signs of Alzheimer's and, while Fred wants to ignore the notion, Joan's work at the adult day care center makes her more aware of the possibility. When Andrew willingly agrees to stay in the house with Helga and Oscar, it seems that Joan and Fred may still have their honeymoon.

Bishop Hill is a tiny Swedish-American village, steeped in history, where everyone knows everyone else. Even here, though, there are secrets and when Helga wanders off, she's found later hiding in the woods and shaking with fear, claiming someone killed Fred. Fred, of course, is alive and well but he and Joan find a murdered man. Helga is very unclear on what she saw, and her memory fades in and out, but it soon becomes obvious that the killer knows she saw him and her life is in danger. Fred and Joan must work with the local sheriff's department, and very quickly, if they are going to save Helga. Then, Helga disappears again and another body is found...

It's been much too long since the last Joan Spencer mystery and Sara Hoskinson Frommer has come up with a winner once again. Joan is a believable amateur sleuth with the ability to think things through while knowing what should be left up to the police. Frommer also gives us a delightful visit to a community grounded in old-world customs. I highly recommend this to all who love a good traditional mystery.

Body Wave
by Nancy J. Cohen
ISBN 0758200684
304 pages
Kensington Books
December 2002
$22.00
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2002

The intrepid hair salon owner, Marla Shore, returns in her fourth Bad Hair Day venture into the world of murder and mayhem. This time, Marla's less-than-wonderful ex-husband, Stanley Kaufman, is suspected of having murdered his third wife, Kimberly. Stan asks---no, he demands
---that Marla use her sleuthing skills and get him out of this jam. In exchange, he'll sell her his half of their jointly-owned rental property at a reasonable price if she can clear him within 30 days. Marla, smart woman that she is, agrees to investigate but only if Stan puts the sale agreement in writing.

Kimberly, heiress to a family fortune, was murdered in their home while Stan was asleep and there is no evidence of a break-in. If Stan is innocent, who wanted her dead? Detective Dalton Vail, who has his own ulterior motive involving his relationship with Marla, sees that she could be useful in this investigation, especially since she manages to find a way into Kimberly's family home and can learn things Dalton can't. The two agree to share information as it develops.

As the days go by, Marla learns that this family harbors some very mean-spirited characters and a number of them are potential suspects. Besides them, there are quite a few other people in Kimberly's circle of acquaintances and friends who appear to have some pretty good motives, too. In the meantime, Stan's deadline is approaching much too quickly and Marla begins to think she may be the killer's next target.

The Bad Hair Day mysteries have been noted for their humor, quick pacing and an intelligent amateur sleuth. Author Nancy J. Cohen continues to offer a refreshing and fun series---I really enjoyed this one and hate to have to wait for the next.


Alpine for You
By Maddy Hunter
ISBN 0743458117
246 pages
Simon & Schuster/Pocket
February 2003
$5.99
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2002

Emily Andrew, currently unemployed, agrees to go along with her grandmother on a seniors' tour to Switzerland. After all, what can go wrong when you're surrounded by a bunch of, well, old people? And she can fend off the advances of the smarmy tour escort without too much trouble.

She should have known better. First, the hotel has no reservation for her and her grandmother. The food is less than appetizing and she's been stuck permanently at a table full of people she'd just as soon avoid. Then, she discovers that apparently at least one person can't handle smarmy tour escorts and the man is found dead in the middle of their first night in Lucerne.

Since he died under questionable circumstances, the police are called in and Emily meets the detective, Etienne Miceli, the man of her dreams, the man whose children she wants to have, the man who can make her toes curl just looking at her. This may turn out to be a great trip, especially as she's been asked to take over as tour escort and all her trip expenses will be paid. There's a real tour guide with them so being an escort couldn't be but so tough, could it?

Then again, anyone who thinks a classroom full of kindergartners must be horrendous has never had to deal with 30 senior citizens---cranky, eccentric, lascivious, demanding. The only bright spot is that Etienne seems to return her interest despite the fact that she always looks like something the cat dragged in, thanks to lost luggage, endless rain and fog, and a few dives into rivers and lakes to retrieve an errant toupee, among other things. And then more bodies start to appear and this is, after all, her problem since she's the group's escort, solver of all dilemmas.

This first in a new series is delightfully fresh, with a great deal of humor, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Decidedly a cozy, it does have a little bit of a sexual edge but it's all talk, mostly very funny. I'm really looking forward to more from author Maddy Hunter and am happy to note that the wait won't be too long as the second in the series is due out in September 2003.


Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
By Donna Andrews
ISBN 0312277318
320 pages
Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Minotaur
January 2003
$23.95
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2002

Poor Meg Langslow---injured in a freak accident, she's agreed to work temporarily in her brother's hot computer game company until she can get back to her blacksmithing. Rob can't give her any real details but he thinks something "fishy" is going on in the company and wants her to be his undercover sleuth.

Mutant Wizards is full of the usual bizarre computer geeks and has a bunch of definitely strange psychotherapists sharing the office space because they refuse to vacate the premises. Rob is continually leaping around in his decidedly untalented attempts to master the martial arts. Among the other crazies are rabid computer game fans trying to steal secrets, a large and very scary biker whose reason for staging menacing appearances is not quite clear, an injured and cranky buzzard recuperating on a perch in the reception lobby and a practical joker named Ted who likes to ride around the office on the mail cart pretending to be dead. So how could Rob notice that anything's fishy? To Meg, it all seems fairly normal, considering what kind of business this is, except maybe for the buzzard.

Fairly normal, that is, until she realizes that Ted isn't pretending anymore...

Replete with a cast of decidedly odd characters, nearly all of whom look like pretty good suspects with a wealth of motives, this latest in the Meg Langslow series is laugh-out-loud funny and has a good mystery to boot. Author Donna Andrews, winner of multiple awards, delivers again and I can only say "I want more!"


On Edge
by Barbara Fister
ISBN 0440237513
276 pages
Random House/Dell
December 2002
$6.50
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2002

Suffering from a gunshot wound, Chicago cop Konstantin Slovo is running from his family, his friends and all the tragedy in his life. His partner was killed in the same shooting and the department is investigating the incident, apparently believing Slovo shot his partner in "friendly fire".

Heading east, Slovo ends up in a small coastal town in Maine for no particular reason other than to see the sun rise over the water. Parked near the beach, he misses the sunrise when he falls asleep and is awakened by a trio of local cops. Unfortunately for Slovo, his bloody backseat immediately arouses their suspicions and his testy attitude doesn't help matters any. It seems that Slovo has wandered into a town that has a child missing, the third in recent months, and the police force is floundering with no leads in a situation far outside their experience.

After checking Slovo's story, the police chief releases him in the care of a patrol officer who is to return him to his car. On the way, they stop at a site about to be searched and the child's body is found shortly after. Wanting to get as far away from this as he can, Slovo stops in at a cafe on his way to his car and collapses with a raging fever from his infected wound. At the hospital, the doctor tells him he'll have to stay in town for a while.

Taking a house as a temporary rental, Slovo settles in to rest but soon finds himself much more involved in the case than he wants to be. A few of the town's residents are solicitous and friendly but, with emotions running high---inflamed further by the memories of a massive child-molesting investigation twenty years earlier---many more are suspicious of him. Still, with his background as a big-city officer, he's a natural consultant for the local force and the state and federal investigators. His bitterness and injury notwithstanding, Slovo soon becomes immersed in finding the next missing child before it's too late.

"On Edge" is an apt title, considering not only Slovo's state of mind but also the town's fear and hostility. Child molestation, abduction and murder suspense novels are always difficult to read because of the emotions felt by the reader but author Barbara Fister handles these subjects well with no sensationalism except that to be expected in a serial murder case. The descriptions of the bodies, while somewhat gruesome, are brief and are unfortunately realistic. Fister's ability to tell a tough story well is admirable and I will look forward to reading more of her work.


Safe Beginnings
by Christine Duncan
ISBN 1931742855
143 pages
Treble Heart Books
July 2002
$11.99
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, September 2002

Kaye Berreano is the counselor on duty at Beginnings, a battered women's shelter, when the fire alarm goes off. Kaye hurries to get all the women and their children out of the building but Mary Ellen, a woman apparently disliked by nearly everyone, doesn't make it. Early investigations reveal that the fire was deliberately set and Farrell, the police arson investigator, believes Kaye is withholding information.

Since some of the women need to be placed elsewhere, Kaye's job security is in doubt, at a time when she is going through an ugly divorce and her financial situation is very shaky. The police don't seem to be getting anywhere useful, even thinking the victim may have set the fire to cover her own suicide, and Kaye begins her own investigation. Unfortunately, since this is a battered women's shelter, there are quite a few potential suspects among the abusive husbands and boyfriends. In addition, more than one of the women may have had a motive. She's sure, though, that Mary Ellen did not kill herself. Digging into the lives of these abused women, Kaye finds some surprises and even more questions, about Mary Ellen's death. Ultimately, she must come to terms with her own life and future.

Most of us, thankfully, will never know what it's like to live with abuse and what that can do to the soul. Author Christine Duncan has cracked the door to this world just a little bit, with empathy and understanding, through a woman with problems of her own. Kaye's desire to protect these women and children while encouraging them to break the cycle of pain makes her a woman I'll look forward to meeting again.

A Penny for Your Thoughts
by Mindy Starns Clark
ISBN 0736909923
337 pages
Harvest House Publishers
July 2002
$10.99
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, September 2002

Callie Webber has a job she loves. Experienced as a private investigator and attorney, she is now employed by the J.O.S.H.U.A. Foundation to investigate the integrity, including financial activity, of nonprofit organizations in which her philanthropist boss is interested. He then decides whether to make donations, often very substantial, based on her recommendations. Oddly enough, Callie and her boss, Tom, have never actually met but they have developed a strong rapport and a feeling of mutual trust over the phone.

Working for the foundation gives Callie a sense of making a real contribution to society and enhances her faith in Christ. It also keeps her so busy she has little time to dwell on the sudden and gruesome death of her husband although she treasures her quiet times in her home on the Chesapeake. Thus, she is looking forward to returning home when Tom asks her to make one more day trip first, to deliver a check to an old friend's hunger relief organization.

What promises to be an easy errand soon turns into something a bit more involved. Tom's friend dies, almost in front of Callie, and it becomes apparent that the cause is probably murder. Tom asks Callie to stay and investigate on behalf of his friend. Unfortunately, it's not long before Callie realizes her own life may well be in danger and very few of the victim's family and co-workers can be trusted. Solving this murder may carry a very high price.

A Penny for Your Thoughts is the first of the Million Dollar Mysteries by Mindy Starns Clark. Billed as an "inspirational" or "religious" mystery, the touch of faith is lightly done and comes across quite naturally and unobtrusively rather than being heavyhanded as some religious novels can be. Callie is a refreshingly intelligent and resourceful woman, eminently likable, while Tom is an enigma. Who is this man besides being very wealthy and undoubtedly generous? When will he and Callie meet? What, if anything, will happen when they do?

The author has really piqued my interest with this first entry and I'm looking forward to the next, as much for the puzzles surrounding Tom, as for Callie's sleuthing adventures. It's nice to have a new mystery series with a well-constructed plot in addition to good character development, a combination not every author can accomplish.


The Last Place
by Laura Lippman
ISBN 0380978199
352 pages
William Morrow
October 2002
$23.95

A female P. I. and an ex-cop hunt a serial killer.

Tess Monaghan, Baltimore private investigator, is in trouble with the law, all because she and her friend, Whitney, tracked down a guy who uses the Internet to prey on young girls and then proceeded to humiliate him in a rather unique way. Now, Tess is sentenced to 6 months of weekly anger management therapy. Tess, of course, does not think she needs this at all.

Feeling bad for getting her friend into this, Whitney gets Tess a job with one of her foundations, a job that seems simple on the surface. All Tess has to do is look into the quality of the police work done on five domestic violence cases across the state. Why, then, does it begin to look as though these cases may be connected to each other somehow?

Tess hooks up with Carl Dewitt who, as a Toll Facilities cop, had found one of the bodies or, at least, part of it. He's retired on disability now but has never forgotten this case---in fact, he seems to be nearly obsessed with it. He convinces Tess that there's more to the case than meets the eye and they team up to do their own investigation. What this will lead to is far more frightening than either Tess or Carl could possibly imagine.

Author Laura Lippman is a master of the soft-boiled suspense genre and this latest in the Tess Monaghan series is no exception. A number of authors have attempted the dual point-of-view style but Ms. Lippman is one of the few who can do it effectively, telling the story from Tess's viewpoint while periodically interjecting the killer's thoughts. This is one of those books I simply could not put down until I had finished it and then I was left with a lingering sense of dread---the perfect suspense thriller in my opinion.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor

Witness in Bishop Hill
by Sara Hoskinson Frommer
ISBN 0312302436
256 pages
St. Martin's Minotaur
November 2002
$23.95
A cozy fit for the holidays.

Joan Spencer and her husband of three months, police lieutenant Fred Lundquist, are making plans for a belated honeymoon trip during the Christmas holidays when Fred's sister calls, asking Fred and Joan to come home to look after their parents while she and her husband take a break. Fred hasn't been home in a long time and Joan has never met her in-laws so they decide they'll stay at a bed-and-breakfast to at least have a little privacy.

Much to Joan's surprise, Joan's college-aged son, Andrew, asks to go---having her son along doesn't quite fit her idea of a honeymoon. Still, Fred's sister has implied that their mother is showing signs of Alzheimer's and, while Fred wants to ignore the notion, Joan's work at the adult day care center makes her more aware of the possibility. When Andrew willingly agrees to stay in the house with Helga and Oscar, it seems that Joan and Fred may still have their honeymoon.

Bishop Hill is a tiny Swedish-American village, steeped in history, where everyone knows everyone else. Even here, though, there are secrets and when Helga wanders off, she's found later hiding in the woods and shaking with fear, claiming someone killed Fred. Fred, of course, is alive and well but he and Joan find a murdered man. Helga is very unclear on what she saw, and her memory fades in and out, but it soon becomes obvious that the killer knows she saw him and her life is in danger. Fred and Joan must work with the local sheriff's department, and very quickly, if they are going to save Helga. Then, Helga disappears again and another body is found...

It's been much too long since the last Joan Spencer mystery and Sara Hoskinson Frommer has come up with a winner once again. Joan is a believable amateur sleuth with the ability to think things through while knowing what should be left up to the police. Frommer also gives us a delightful visit to a community grounded in old-world customs. I highly recommend this to all who love a good traditional mystery.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor

Who Killed the Curate?
by Joan Coggins
The Rue Morgue Press, 2001
157 pages
$14.00
ISBN 0915230445

It's Christmas 1937 and the small English village of Glanville is gearing up for the festivities. Central to the villages activities is Lady Lupin, the lovely scatterbrained wife of Andrew, vicar of St. Marks Parish. Lady Lupin, having come from a world of wealth and entitlement, is eager to fit in as the vicar's wife but is totally bewildered by the Girl Guides, the Mothers' Union, and all the other parish groups the ladies of the parish expect her to lead. Andrew, meanwhile, quietly smiles and assures Lady Lupin (known as Loops to her friends) she's doing quite well, occasionally giving her a little nudge in the right direction.

When Andrew's curate, Charles, is found dead, it quickly becomes apparent that he was poisoned. Who could have done such a thing and why? Was it in the fish served at Loops' table the night before? Why was Charles wandering around in her house? Could his obsession with foreign missions have anything to do with his death? Surely, Loops thinks, the guilty party couldn't be Diana, author of children's stories and mysteries, even though her recent activities have been rather suspicious. Loops enlists her houseguests to help her solve the murder. Perhaps the biggest problem is that all the potential suspects seem so likable, much more so than the victim. Loops announces that she'll help the murderer escape if he or she will only confess to the dastardly deed.

Lady Lupin is a complete delight, one of the best cozy characters I've ever encountered. Watching her navigate the pitfalls of being the vicar's wife in a small village is hilarious, especially since she's usually oblivious to what's really going on. Like many such addlepated people, though, there is much more to Loops than meets the eye.

First published in 1944, this is the first of a series of four mysteries featuring Lady Lupin. I will be looking forward with great anticipation to the remaining three entries and could only wish that Joan Coggins had written many more.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, July 2002

The Mouse in the Mountain
by Norbert Davis
The Rue Morgue Press
$14.00
ISBN 0915230410

Originally published in 1943, this first entry in the Doan and Carstairs series is unexpected in the world of the hardboiled PI novel. As the new publishers explain in their foreword, Norbert Davis introduced humor into this subgenre at a time when authors and readers took their hardboiled mysteries seriously.

Doan, a California private investigator who seems to operate somewhere on the edge of the law, has gone to Mexico to meet with a fugitive. Accompanying him is Carstairs, an enormous Great Dane, "won" by Doan in a crap game. The truth is, Carstairs calls the shots and no one argues with him, including Doan.

Doan, Carstairs take a rickety tour bus to Los Altos, a remote mountain village. Along with them is a motley collection of other guests from their hotel, including naive teacher Janet, rich girl Patricia, her gigolo Gregor, her maid, Maria, and the Henshaws with their dreadful son Mortimer. Janet is in search of romance and adventure and is fascinated with the story of Cortez associate, Lt. Emile Perona.

After a nail-biting journey, they arrive in Los Altos and land right in the middle of a gunfight between police and bad guy Garcia. More bodies begin to appear, including some of the hotel tourists. Doan seems to be in the thick of all of it and is the nemesis of the military secret police, headed up by Captain Emile Perona, descendant of Janet's hero. Why are the secret police in Los Altos? Is there a connection between the gunfight and the murders of the hotel guests? Will Carstairs put the fear of death into the horrible Mortimer?

Davis does indeed inject humor into this classic PI story, so much so as to be almost farcical. For those mystery readers who don't generally like hardboiled, this is the ideal exception and I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, July 2002

Read other past reviews:

Fender Benders by Bill Fitzhugh
Reservations for Murder by Tim Myers
Every First Saturday by Bobby Jaye Allen
Kickback by p. m. terrell
The Bloodied Cravat by Rosemary Stevens
ANY BOOK by Chassie West
The Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton
Just Your Everyday People by Fred Yager and Jan Yager
Eleven Days by Donald Harstad
Death Stalks The Khmer by Patricia Harrington

Read past reviews:

Quietly Dead by Laura Belgrave
No Time to Die by Grace F. Edwards
Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Treasure Box by Orson Scott Card
The Birth of Blue Satan by Patricia Wynn
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Murder of a Sweet Old Lady by Denise Swanson
Harm None by M.R. Sellars
The Hollow by Todd Hayes
Meg by Steve Alten
The Trench by Steve Alten
The Good Die Twice by Lee Driver
Full Moon Bloody Moon by Lee Driver