Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Murder's Madness-Alex Matthews

Murder's Madness
Alex Matthews
Veiled Intent Press, Apr 2008, $15.00
ISBN: 9780979475603

Chicago therapist Cassidy McCabe runs a successful practice out of her Oak Park home. Recently she married her sweetheart crime reporter Zach Moran. Their life is perfect; wrong! Depressed Zach is struggling with a new editor, who has treated him shabbily. Almost as bad as Zach’s lack of tender loving, Starshine her cat has apparently found a better place to hang its’ paws.

Medicated for schizophrenia Delia Schiff recently rented Zach's condo in Marina City; Cass has befriended the lonely woman. However, when Delia calls her hysterically about Dark Angels, a corpse in a closet and magic, Cass assumes her new pal is off her meds. She goes over to reassure the distraught woman, but though Cass fails to find a body, she notices some blood. As Delia vanishes, Cass calls the police even as she intends to conduct her own investigation to insure Delia is okay.

The ninth Cass McCabe mystery, IN MURDER'S MADNESS, is an exciting amateur sleuth talethat stars a caring therapist hoping to save the life of a schizophrenic, who is off her medicine and may or may not have seen a corpse. The story line is driven by the heroine’s need to help a lonely person; a trait fans of the series know is part of Cass’ make-up. However, the plot is owned by Delia even though her appearances are limited; as she enables the audience to go deep inside the tormented soul of a mentally ill individual who needs to stay on her meds to keep some mental equilibrium.

Harriet Klausner

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