Murder Most Austen-Tracy Kiely

Murder Most Austen


Tracy Kiely

Minotaur, Sep 4 2012, $25.99

ISBN: 9781250007421



Elizabeth Parker knows her future is nebulous as she is unemployed and unsure of her relationship with her boyfriend Peter. However, Elizabeth puts aside her woes as she and her great-aunt Winnie Reynolds fly to the annual Jane Austen Festival in Bath; where the great author placed Northanger Abbey.



At the gala they run into Winnie’s friend Cora Beadle and her daughter Izzy. When Professor Richard Baines announces his shocking theory that Ms. Austen’s death was caused by syphilis, the Janeites are irate and think he is a lunatic; Cora especially rages. Soon after his pronouncement, someone stabs to death Baines at the Regency Masked Ball where he was garbed as Mr. Darcy. The police suspect Cora, his most vocal acerbic critic. Elizabeth and Winnie investigate and quickly find several other people with stronger motives than Cora to kill Baines.



The latest Elizabeth Parker Janeites amateur sleuth (see Murder Most Persuasive; Murder on the Bride's Side and Murder at Longbourn) is a terrific cozy due to a strong cast and scenes from out of Northanger Abbey. Elizabeth is a wonderful heroine as she works the case with assistance from her well-meaning but often mistaken Aunt Winnie. Though the engaging storyline offers few spins, sub-genre fans will enjoy Murder Most Austen as Jane stars.



Harriet Klausner

Cover Her Body-Eleanor Sullivan

Cover Her Body


Eleanor Sullivan

Yesteryear Press/Wyatt-MacKenzie, Oct 1 2011, $14.99

www.yesteryearpress.com

ISBN: 9781936214556



In 1833 in devout Zoar, Ohio, midwife Adelaide Bechtmann heads to the nearby river seeking peace. Instead she finds sixteen year old Johanna Appelgate dead in the river. Horrified Adelaide pulls the teen’s body from the river, but realizes the floater did not die from drowning as her lungs lacked water.



The Separatists elders reject Adelaide’s contention of a murder as the leaders conveniently insists accidental death. Shocked by their reaction, Adelaide takes a harder blow to her gut when her husband Benjamin warns her to back off. Needing to know the truth as she fears a remedy she gave to the pregnant young woman might have killed her, Adelaide ignores the elders and her husband to investigate the wrongful death.



This is a superb nineteenth century amateur sleuth mystery that brings to life the rigid Separatist community that expects full adherence to the edicts. Adelaide is a superb protagonist as her conscience to learn the truth battles with her desire to adhere to the sect’s rules; in some ways her inquiry turns this refreshing Americana into a coming of age tale.



Harriet Klausner

In Between Days-Andrew Porter

In Between Days

Andrew Porter

Knopf, Sep 4 2012, $24.95

ISBN: 9780307273512



On Houston, Elson the highly regarded architect and Cadence are divorced after three decades of marriage. Their two college aged children Richard and Chloe are not dealing well with their parents’ breakup.



Cadence calls Elson to inform him that their daughter is flying home tonight as Stratham College has expelled her for an act of violence involving her boyfriend Raja. Elson’s ex-wife also tells him that Richard, a graduate student at Rice, will pick up his sister as Chloe does not want to see her dad until tomorrow. With his family falling apart, his lover Lorna increasingly distant, and his career collapsing; Elson turns to alcohol to numb the pain of failure.



This is an intriguing family drama in which a monumental event (the end of a long marriage) has lasting impact on the couple and their children. Although reading more like four interrelated novellas, the Harding quartet are fully developed characters. Elson filled with thoughts of loser acts increasingly irresponsible; Cadence filled with self-pity and regret for marrying him struggles to find an identity besides ex and mom; Richard living at home feels torn between poet and supporting himself; and Chloe stunned by her parents’ divorce makes bad relational choices that hurt her and her family. Fans will appreciate this deep look at the impact on people when a key identifier (family role) becomes extinct.



Harriet Klausner

Dead Ends-Sandra Balzo

Dead Ends


Sandra Balzo

Severn, Sep 1 2012, $28.95

ISBN 9780727881748



Wisconsin police reporter AnnaLise Griggs takes a month long leave of absence to help her ailing mom Daisy in their hometown Sutherton, North Carolina. Noting her mother’s failing memory; AnnaLise suggests the town create a website with a blog.



Urban County, Wisconsin D.A. Benjamin Rosewood, his wife Tanja and their teenage daughter Suzanne arrive in Sutherton. Having had a tryst with Rosewood, an abashed AnnaLise stays out of his way as much as feasible in the small town. Tanja dies in a car crash when she drives her Porsche off Sutherton Mountain. AnnaLise and Daisy came close to following her over the edge. Police chief Chuck Greystone and his team learn someone shot Tanja with AnnaLise a major suspect. A second homicide and a failed attempt to kill Daisy follow.



The second Main Street Murders (see Running on Empty) is a great regional rural whodunit. The action never slows down as a killer stalks victims whose only seemingly connection is AnnaLise. Dead Ends is a terrific mystery.



Harriet Klausner

Run the Risk-Lori Foster

Run the Risk


Lori Foster

Harlequin HQN, Sep 25 2012, $7.99

ISBN 9780373776955



Two years ago, Police Detective Logan Riske’s best friend Jack Carmin was murdered. The cop suspects’ club owner Morton Andrews was involved with the hit but the witness Rowdy Yates vanished. However, as his partner warns him about his obsession, Logan locates Rowdy’s mousy sister Pepper though she uses the surname Meeks. Musing about her he assumes her brother has turned her into a recluse while ironically she believes her sibling has protected her at risk to his life.



Logan goes undercover as Pepper’s construction worker neighbor Stark. He persuades her to go out to dinner with him as he hopes to use her to get to her hidden sibling. However, Logan is taken aback with his attraction to a reluctant Pepper who prefers to be left alone though she feels the same desires as he does.



The first Love Undercover romantic suspense is an enjoyable thriller as the sexy undercover cop and the damsel in distress hiding her body and herself fall in love. The romance is fascinating, but it is the powerful police procedural subplot that grips readers throughout.



Harriet Klausner

They Disappeared-Rick Mofina

They Disappeared


Rick Mofina

Mira, Sep 18 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780778313816



Montana mechanic Jeff and Sarah Griffin, accompanied by their tweener son Cole, go on vacation in Manhattan. In Times Square, Jeff enters a shop to buy batteries while his wife and child wait outside. After he completes his purchase he goes to join his family, but they are gone. He searches frantically the stores in the area, but fails to find them.



A desperate Jeff goes to the police whose first inclination is the duo are okay and will see him later and second and only other thought if not he harmed his wife and son. Not willing to wait around, Jeff, feeling guilty over his previous thoughts of divorce, begins a frantic search for his family that leads him into the part of the city that tourists never visit.



This is an exhilarating thriller that never allows the reader a moment of respite as one twist leads to another as the clock ticks. Fans will root for this everyman to defeat the dregs of society as Rick Mofina provides a gripping taut tale summed up aptly by the title.



Harriet Klausner

Mixed Signals-Jane Tesh

Mixed Signals


Jane Tesh

Poisoned Pen, Oct 2 2012, $24.95

ISBN: 9781464200618



In Parkland, North Carolina, the two house mates, private investigator David Randall and psychic Camden, come home when the latter goes over to say hello to their neighbor Jared Hunter. Camden finds him stabbed to death while David calls the cops. The police suspect David’s client Boyd Taylor killed Jared.



Soon after discovering the body Camden has flashbacks to the murder, but Boyd is not included in what he envisions. David learns that Jared and Bert Galvan the son of the Parkland Herald editor, were involved in a break-in at the Parkland Museum of History. Meanwhile the Parkland Avenger is a failing fool in which the Super Hero Society of Parkland insists this bumbler is not one of them.



The latest entertaining Grace Street investigation (see Stolen Hearts) is an engaging cozy that has too many eccentric characters making it difficult to keep track of the several subplots. The narrator Randall is a fascinating protagonist as he works the whodunit and sees Kary while fearing his mom’s interrogation over the death of his daughter. Fans will enjoy this zany regional cozy as Christmas arrives in Parkland.



Harriet Klausner