Harley L. Sachs' latest Mystery Club installment perked my interest for a cozy mystery but I worried that, by not having read them in order, I might not get the full effect of the series. I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness was perfectly enjoyable out of order. In my experience when “Cozy” is added before “Mystery” for a genre description, it usually means that you can expect wonderful characters, an easy going plot, some humor and even a little bit of romance. That is exactly what I found in The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness.

For a usually quiet retirement community, the Rose Plaza residents manage to keep themselves busy and on their toes finding adventure, mystery and danger amongst their peers. Resident Katherine Seller heads the Plaza gift fund committee but it soon becomes evident that one of the residents is stealing funds. At first, with so many of the residents taking part in the gift funds donations, it’s unclear who it could be. Katherine is finding odd behavior in a few residents and is sure she’s heading in the right direction. It soon becomes clear that one resident is not who they say they are and is hiding out under the witness protection program with a bad track record of stealing. The Mystery Club jumps into action to help get the missing funds back where they belong and to catch the perpetrator red handed.

Harley L. Sachs created a group of characters that are both entertaining and enjoyable. The plot moves right along at a nice pace making The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness an easy and light read.

Reviewed by Marianna Boylan
© July 2005

Set in the sleepy town of Foxglove Corners, this delightful mystery will draw you in and keep you turning the pages. Ms. Bodoin’s writing is clever and intriguing. The characters are well-developed and keep the flow down-to-earth while adding a touch of mystery to an everyday existence in a small town.

The mystery revolves around a missing girl and a collie named Winter. Jennet finds Winter along with numerous clues that add interest to the book. The two go on many walks and encounter different aspects of the mystery. What does a green scarf have to do with another girl’s murder? Why all the threats concerning the dog Winter? Could a housekeeper be responsible for the murders and also for the threats? Who is John Hawke really? Why does he want to buy Winter, a dog she just found?

Crane, Jennet’s beau, works for the police department and adds legal insights into her escapades. He also visits her and brings her things. He is an odd fellow, again adding more mystery into the story though he is not a major player in all of the story. Jill Lodge, a journalist, and Jennet become friends and together they learn about who John Hawke is and what he does: Will Ross, a wealthy man, who seems neglectful of his child, Cindy. She must be rescued by Winter because no one is watching her as she plays near a pond. The descriptions are so realistic that your emotions get a workout.

A Shortcut Through the Shadows should not be passed over as it will capture and keep the attention of the reader. This read is worth every minute. The book was very clean with no cursing or graphic scenes though romance abounded in it. I think that the plot dragged on a little with too much of background information about Winter. It was not the best book I’ve ever read but neither was it the worst. The book is a find for mystery readers and an adventure for the rest of us. I found this book much more of an adventure rather than a mystery, but as I’ve stated above many curious things are found within this tome.

Reviewed By Julie Thomas-Zucker
© March 2005

Harley was a supervisor at computer chip making company Sil-Trac. Her area, as well as the whole plant, was working double-time to get ready for its upcoming ISO 9000 review. Getting certified would bring in millions in contracts for the company.

Unfortunately for Harley, there was a problem with her area's counts. They all seemed to calculate right at the end, but each individual section's numbers just did not add up. One of her people-Mike-had taken the calculations home for the weekend to help figure out where the problem was. Harley was desperate to get Mike's thoughts on it, but that would not happen. Mike was found murdered in his apartment.

Harley did manage to get the documents back, and while she tried to find some rhyme or reason in the counts, two more of her people were murdered. Even though she did not want to get involved, she was drawn into the investigation and ended up smack-dab in the middle of a mystery where whoever was killing her people, now needed something from her.

This is a great mystery that throws so many little clues at you, you never quite know who did what and who is involved in what. The characters were real and vivid in my mind. Many times I was nodding to myself as I could picture someone I had met in my life who was just like one of the characters. I found the story to be intriguing and entertaining and would suggest it to anyone who wants to read a good book on a rainy afternoon.

Reviewed By: Kathy Martin
(c) September 2004

Being an avid fan of mystery novels, I plunged into the plot twists, red herrings, and sinister setting of Murder Plus Five with gusto.

Audrey Canning's father, William, has been investigating the theft of his secret formula for flame retardant material, and is on his way back from meeting a private eye in Chicago. When the plane ostensibly carrying him crashes into a mountain, Audrey and her father's business partner fly out to the mountain to find him. Once there, they find themselves in a morass of suspicion. Five different people have five different combinations to the vault in which the formula is kept, and only one will unlock the door. Each claims to be innocent, but one of them has to be the thief. More disturbing are suggestions of sabotage and the notion that her father was not in the plane at all. Drawn into playing William Canning's game, they must go to California to flush out the thief.

An intriguing premise is set up here in the theft of the formula and the strategies designed to reveal the thief. There is also some intrigue between Brad, Jack, and Audrey, as both men appear to take a liking to her. This confused me in parts, because I was unsure whom I should be thinking of as "The Hero" in the romantic subplot. The casting of the hero is subtleÑso subtle that until Jack asks Audrey to dinner, there's nothing between them, not even the hint of sexual awareness or chemistry.

Murder Plus Five does focus heavily on the plot, with the characters and the romance playing secondary roles. It is, however, an interesting suspense, and the plot twists and turns around each suspect, keeping you guessing until the end.

I loved the story itself, but I am sad to confess that I didn't love the way that it was written. While there are readers out there that enjoy a lot of description that doesnÕt push the plot forward, I'm not one of them. I like a mystery that maintains pace, and although the descriptions are really quite lovely, I found my attention waning as she described inert things such as the beauty of the mountains and feeding the squirrel. I started reading excited by the premise, but my enthusiasm dropped away with the excess description. In another genre this might not be such a problem, but mysteries rely on tension and action to drive the plot and swing the reader breathlessly along with it, and it pains me to say that Murder Plus Five just doesn't swing.

For the most part, despite the description and lack of tension, it is a smooth read. Occasionally, however, words were used inappropriately, and harsh words such as "she screamed" startled me in situations where there had been no tension buildup. I feel that this undermined the quality of the writing. It also resulted in the characters feeling wooden and two-dimensional.

Ultimately, as a reader I felt like Ms Ross had written an outline of the events in the story, and had forgotten to fill in the details such as emotions, gestures, and feelings. Although the plot was inspired, Murder Plus Five left me with the feeling that, if it had been finished, it would have been a really great story.

Reviewed By: Melinda Stanners
© November 2004

Ashley Montague wanted to become a cop, like her father before her. She studied hard and had no time for relaxation. This was why when a long week-end offered the opportunity to relax together with her best friends Karen and Jan, Ashley was ready to go. In her hurry, she bumped into and poured hot coffee on a very attractive Police Detective.

Jake Dilessio's partner, Nancy, had gone alone in her desire to solve a mystery. Her slightly unethical approach had left her without backup and she had been killed in a way that suggested suicide. Five years later, Jake was still searching for the perpetrator. For him it had been clear that suicide was not an option. Nancy was . . . had been such a vibrant, life-loving person. He was obsessed with finding the culprit, but even now, five years after Nancy's death, Jake was nowhere close to solving the mystery. Ashley's "coffee-attack" had only one effect--to attract Jake's attention to the bright woman with the red hair.

Ashley's promotion into a position to influence the direction of the old investigation, reawakened by the discovery of a new victim, made her rub elbows with the over-protective detective more often than she thought was healthy for either of them.

The attraction between the two made a difficult personal relationship evolve into a difficult work relationship. Ashley thought that Jake was still in love with Nancy and because of that, she wanted to prove herself as capable and as devoted as the dead lover, while Jake wanted only to keep Ashley out of harm's way.

The tension escalated by the growing suspicion that nothing was as it looked, and, slowly, even the most innocuous incidents were enveloped by mystery and suspense. As one of the real suspects had said, all was just illusion--smoke and mirrors--and up to the very end it was a major question: who to trust in this game of life and death?

Heather Graham, again, proves her mastery in this Romantic Mystery, in which the plot thickens and love grows by jumps and leaps. Her talent to send you, the reader, on false trails only to bring you back to a satisfactory ending makes her novel a wonderful pastime when you do not want to do anything but read a captivating book. You will be captivated from the beginning to end.

Reviewed By: Raluca Popov
© JULY 2004

I have a confession to make. I live in New Jersey and I'm not Italian nor do I know any hit men. I have driven in and am familiar with Stephanie Plum's New Jersey of Janet Evanovich's TO THE NINES.

In this installment of the ongoing adventures of Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, she must track down a person who has skipped town on a visa bond. The manufacturing company posted a bond saying that this person would leave the country when his visa expired. This was new territory for Stephanie's cousin and when the person goes missing he assigned her the case--along with Ranger, her usual partner and sometime lover.

Still in the picture was Joe Morelli, Trenton Detective and sometime main squeeze for Stephanie. She's confused about her feelings for both men which complicated the story since she ended up dealing with both of them.

Seems someone was trying to kill Stephanie. The would-be murderer kept leaving her flowers and notes. She felt safe when the case took her to Las Vegas, but that feeling was short-lived.

Ms. Evanovich has done it again. She has taken a familiar character and allowed her to grow. Stephanie Plum is funny and likeable. Unlike in her previous books, Stephanie does not destroy any cars, but what Ms. Evanovich has done instead is even more amusing. Ms. Evanovich takes humorous points of New Jersey and makes them universally entertaining.

Run, don't walk to find this book and read it.

Reviewed By: Chris Redding
© July 2004

The story of Captain Marvelous shows how love can win out over dreams for our futures. When Annie, a doctor's assistant, first meets State Trooper Ronen Marvelic, she never imagines that she will become a mother. Coming from a broken home, she has a hard time dealing with love and trust, and she believes that her past will not allow her to be a good mother. Her love for Ronen is tested in many ways as she seeks to become a medical doctor. RonenÕs son, Chris, plays a big role in revealing her love for medicine and he even introduces her to her mentor, John Latamir. They are working on a case which will eventually involve the deaths of seven women--most of whom are immigrant girls.

Many tumultuous battles occur between the two before Annie finally says good-bye to Ronen and goes off to medical school. While working at a hospital, she meets a woman whose life includes having a successful carreercareer, being married to an equally successful man and also having children. After that meeting, Annie resolves to abandon her career and marry Captain Marvelous. Meanwhile Ronen has just learned that his mother gave up a successful music career to marry his father. Ronen sees how much her career means to her and realizes how much she missed because of marriage. He feels badly that he has done the same thing to Annie.

I found Captain Marvelous to be very good. Though I wasn't able to read it all at once--due to our move out of state--I didn't have any trouble keeping my focus. The storyline was well-developed and held my interest even when I wasn't reading it. I think the sensual scenes were tasteful without being too graphic.

I was annoyed by the HTML marks which showed up on my Palm Pilot. I didn't understand all the place/names references, and I found a few typographical errors, but those things didn't detract from Captain Marvelous. However the author's inconsistent use of the name of God and other Biblical charactersÑespecially in contrast to scenes such as when Annie was praying to God for His help--did detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Reviewed By: Julie Thomas-Zucker
© October 2004

Harley Jean Davidson had to take time from her busy charter tour-driver schedule to track down King, her father's dog, who hadn't come home the night before. She assumed it was Mrs. Trumble who was responsible, since King had torn out the back seat of Mrs. Trumble's Chevy when he'd been accidentally locked in her garage. Of course, Mrs. Trumble had followed up with a restraining order; and when Harley had shown up at her house to inquire, Mrs. Trumble--who looked like an old Richard Simmons in drag--chased her down the street whacking at her car with her broom. But when Harley got to her parents' house, her father (the former hippie) and her mother (the psychic flower-child) had a ransom note that said Bring what you know we want or the dog dies do it or you will get your dog back a little at a time. < sic >

If the dognapper wasn't Mrs. Trumble, and it wasn't the mailman (who had to mace King to deliver the mail on the days when he delivered mail-order cheese to the neighborhood), then who could have taken him? When Harley's blue-haired brother found King's chain on the curb in front of "scary dude's" house, there was suddenly a new suspect: her parents' new neighbor, the mysterious and intimidating Bruno Jett. Harley had to go next door and investigate the next potential culprit.

Her parents' new next-door neighbor, Mr. Jett, was tall and virile and gorgeous, and probably a criminal, since she'd seen a huge stack of jewelry covering his table when she'd gone over to ask about King. Bobby, her friend the detective, told her to stay away from Mr. Jett, showing her his rap sheet which seemed to be nine pages long, of which two were suspiciously missing. And she'd promised her father to check Mrs. Trumble's for King again. So she went back. Curiously, Mrs. T. didn't come to the door, but Harley heard some mysterious coughing that sounded like barking that turned out to be King. In response to his rescue, King--a known manic--ran in circles into the house, and Harley chased after him.

She found Mrs. Trumble. Dead. Harley's new problem was to figure out who really killed Mrs. Trumble, because the only real suspect was her father, Yogi, the one on whom Mrs. Trumble had filed a restraining order. Yogi's former commune-hippie-activist anti-government lifestyle made him a likely suspect. Even if he was a pacifist, he was a pacifist with a temper.

Virginia Brown has written a lively, unexpected mystery peopled with vivid characters I'd swear I see every day walking down a Memphis street. I don't think I have ever read a romance that so colorfully portrays the city in which it is set, and believe me, I have read a lot of romance. This mystery is written with a lot of style and personal voice, demonstrating the expertise behind Ms. Brown's well-established reputation as a Romance author.

A keeper.

Reviewed By: Allie B
© August 2004

When I read the blurb for Virginia Brown’s Deadly Design, I was instantly drawn to the colorful, madcap description of her characters. Both they and the wild situations reminded me of the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. Since those books are a favorite of mine I’m always looking for new authors of this type of mystery. There aren’t many authors that can balance comedy and suspense so that one genre doesn’t overpower the other. So I knew I had to give Ms. Brown’s book a try.

Darcy Fontaine is in trouble. When she suspects Harry Gordon, her business partner, of smuggling illegal imports, maybe even drugs, using the interior design shop, she knows she is in trouble. What can she do? Who can she go to? She can’t go to the police because in the upper class society of Memphis any hint of scandal will kill her business. She knows of only one person she can turn to, someone who can’t say no because they are family.

Harley is still feeling the effects of her last little excursion into mayhem. She’s not really excited about the idea of investigating her aunt’s claims that someone is using the shop to cover-up illegal imports but her aunt is desperate. Harley reluctantly agrees because she is family, even though she’s a snob and, of course, the promise of five thousand dollars helps.

They agree to meet at the shop on the day a new shipment is due to arrive but before Harley can do any real searching, Harry comes back early from a business trip. Once again Harley tries to convince Darcy that the best thing would be to go to the police. When Darcy refuses Harley agrees to do an after hours search of the shop. That night Harley lets herself into the shop where she meets trouble. The alarm isn’t set; she hears what sound like gunshots; her aunt’s car speeds out of the parking lot and a very dead Harry Gordon is found impaled on a set of elk horns.

As the plot thickens Bobby Baroni, her childhood friend and Mike Morgan, her new love interest, both cops with the Memphis police department, try their best to keep Harley out of trouble and out of the case. Harley, on the other hand, is determined to keep her aunt out of jail. With the reluctant help of family and friends, can she find the real murderer before someone else winds up dead? Was smuggling the real reason Harry was killed or was there some other secret motive?

Virginia Brown’s Deadly Design isn’t one of those intense, can’t turn out the lights kind of mystery. It is a light-hearted mystery with lots of screwball characters; laugh out loud situations, with a couple of dead people thrown in. When I started Ms. Brown’s book I was hoping for a new author who could walk the fine line between humor and mystery and I was not disappointed. I found that Deadly Design was easy to read with its sense of humor along with being a well-written mystery that had me, along with its lead character Harley Jean, asking “Who dun it?” underneath all that fun. This is a book that I’m going to recommend to my friends who enjoy the funnier side of a good mystery.
 
 
Reviewed By Theresa Rhodes
© February 2006

The premise behind this story intrigued me. Old houses have their own history-bad and good. What would you do if, while you were renovating an old house, you found an intriguing mystery, even if it was years old? If you had a chance of solving that mystery, would you? Or would you leave it buried in the past? Would you want someone digging in your past, your tragedies? If someone you loved just disappeared, what would you do?

Abigail Sutton is a woman who has faced both uncertainty and tragedy in her past. First when Joel, her husband, went to the store and never came home. According to the police, he just got tired of married life and left Abigail, though deep in her heart she knew different. Now two years later Joel’s body and car are found in a ravine. The car was stripped and Joel the victim of a mugging gone wrong.

It had taken her some time to figure it out but she knew life had more to offer than a lousy job as a graphic artist and an empty apartment. So with that insight, she was in search of a new life, in search of that small town feeling where people were truly neighbors and not just some nameless person next door.

When she sees the small town of Spookie she is reminded of her old hometown. She spends the day getting to know the town and its people. By the end of the day she knows that this where she wants to be. Abby, with the help of real estate agent Martha Sikeston, starts looking for a house. When Martha shows her this rundown little house, she knows that it’s the one for her.

The old Summers house has its own tragic past. The house had been left to sisters Edna and Emily Summers. It was left abandoned after Edna died with no family to claim it. Thirty years earlier Emily and her two children just disappeared into the night. Of course, rumors ran wild at the time-some said that she ran away to be with a boyfriend, others said she was on the run from her abusive ex-husband, but whatever the truth, she was never heard from again.

As Abby begins to clean and restore the old house, she begins to find scraps of paper with notes and drawings on them done by the Summers children, Jenny and Christopher. These little bits of paper shed an unhappy light on the children’s lives. There are hints of possible abuse in the notes, but who is the abuser, Edna or Emily? Abby feels for the children as the notes reveal the possibility of them being starved. Abby knows what it is to be hungry, as a child there was never enough food even though her father was a hard working provider.

As the summer unfolds so do the notes revealing more of that long ago summer. Abby, along with retired Chicago cop, Frank Lester who is also an old friend of the Summers family, get drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery of what truly happened to Emily and her children. Not only are Frank and Abby drawn into the mystery but so is the whole town as they try to start remembering the last days the Summers family spent among them. But someone among them doesn’t want what happened that summer remembered, and they will go to any length to keep the truth from being discovered.

Will Abby and Frank be able to discover the truth about that long ago summer? Who is the person behind the mysterious incidents happening now? Will Abby and Frank be able to deal with the feelings developing between them?

Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s Scraps of Paper is an engaging story of what happens when you go digging into the past and the possible consequences. It also has an underlying story about dealing with what life hands you and finding the strength to move on. Both Frank and Abby are strong characters they have had to deal with the loss of a loved one and to learn to deal with that loss. You find yourself drawn to them and to all the quirky people who live in the little town of Spookie. In the end you want to know what happened in the old house so many years earlier. I’ll be looking forward to more books about this quaint little town.

Reviewed By Theresa
© March 2006

Everyone has things in their past that haunt them but what do you do when that past comes back to haunt your present. Do you face it, or run and hide? What if that past was violent? Would you confront it?

Spookie is a small peaceful town but that is about to change. A sixteen year old girl disappears on her way to school. Search parties have form to comb all the wooded areas between the girl’s home and the local high school. Days pass and still no sign of her. Then, one day, a clay figurine shows up in the family mailbox.

Frank Lester saw many things as a Chicago cop but the most disturbing was the Mud People Killer case. It was a serial kidnapper/killer case that had the Chicago cops baffled. This case was one that was personal for Frank. The killer enjoyed tormenting Frank with messages holding riddles on who the next victim was going to be. Then the phone calls to the media started when the cops failed to catch him. When a friend of Frank’s disappeared, he knew who was responsible. Frank set up a stakeout for the kidnapper but when he failed to capture him, Frank felt that it was his fault for not getting backup. After that, the killer/kidnapper was never heard from again--that is, until now.

For Abigail Sutton's life, if not what she and her dead husband Joel dreamed of, is still pretty good. She has her house, her career, good friends and her growing relationship with Frank. She has a new commission to paint a mural for the local library, her biggest job yet. Yes, life is good, or it was, until people start disappearing without a trace.

Then Emil Brooks disappears. A hard working family man with a desperately ill wife and seven children, Emil is not the type of man to just to up and disappear. Having made friends with two of the Brooks children, Laura and Nick, while at the library, Abby feels for the Brooks family. She does more than just sympathize with the family. She has been where they are now--in more ways than one. Abby grew up in poverty and when her dad became ill, she had to give up her dreams to go to college to study art, which is one of Laura’s dreams.

When Abby is almost kidnapped, Frank calls his old partner Sam Cato to help protect her. Frank knows that this time it’s going to be either him or the killer who wins this deadly cat and mouse game. Do Frank and Abby have the patience to wait out the killer? Will Abby and Frank be able to come to terms with their growing relationship?

For those mystery fans who are not into the gruesome-type of mystery, Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s All Things Slip Away is the book for you. This book combines mystery and relationships to tell the story of freelance artist Abigail Sutton, retired Chicago cop Frank Lester and the little town of Spookie. All Things Slip Away picks up where Scraps of Paper left off with Abby and Frank’s relationship taking on a new twist.

Ms. Griffith’s proves once again that what may seem to be on the surface of the idyllic small town life can have it’s roots in tragedy and that the only things that can be counted on are love and trust. Filled with strong relationships, quirky characters and a good mystery, it is the relationships that really make this book shine for me. If you get the chance to read All Things Slip Away, grab it because this book is a definite keeper. I can’t wait until the next Abigail Sutton book comes out.

Reviewed By Theresa Rhodes
© May 2006

By most estimations two inches is not much of anything. Certainly nothing that can nearly bring a man to his knees. Jackson Locke, Private Investigator, would soon find that two inches can do a lot of damage. A Cure for the Common Curse is a fast paced story of Jackson, Private Investigator, who while minding his business, happens upon a pair of witches. He is hired to watch one of the women by her husband. Once he reports the results of his investigation however, things became even more problematic: the witch curses him for putting his nose where it does not belong. At least that is her reasoning.

Jackson however protests. He is, after all, a nice man in a dubious profession. This rollicking story, A Cure for the Common Curse, is a tersely funny and gripping read. It leads you from the intimacies of a man’s mind to a satisfying conclusion that leaves you hoping for more. As a bonus, there is also a follow up story, Dead Reckoning. Both stories bring about the wonders of personal growth, a tangle of clues to be solved, and delightful personalities to meet along the way.

You have his ex-wife, Becky. Divorced, but never far from his life; she is his constant reminder of the fickleness of life, and of his own shortcomings. She keeps him human. His profession, he admits, had become something of a mistress in their marriage. Women are much more complicated than finding new clients, and much less messy. He refuses to deal with any violent crime searches, just simple missing items and people, thank you very much. Other characters also spice the story along the way and I will leave it to you to meet them.

Then there are the two inches. Demonlings. Not Sprites, Gremlins, or Imps, but Demonlings, and do not get them wrongly labeled. A practical P. I. who simply cannot believe in such a silly thing as magic, finds there is nothing silly about them--until one day he gets them drunk. It is when he is getting, if not comfortable with them, at least used to them. That is a mistake and from there on out, the curse begins to fulfill itself in the most crazy of ways. So hang on because you are in for a wild, laughing ride. While two inches can be a terrible problem, they can also be most amusing.

This is one mystery you won’t regret spending time with and will want to enjoy again and again. A Cure for the Common Curse is a good time reading.

Reviewed By: Nancy Louise
© July 2006