Guest Post: An Interview with Carolyn Haines by Joan Leotta

  

Earlier this week, Joan Leotta reviewed the new book, Joy to the Bones. Today, she has an interview with the author, Carolyn Haines.

 

 

An Interview with Carolyn Haines by Joan Leotta

 

 

Author, Carolyn Haines, was gracious enough to expand on the small paragraph that appears in the back of Joy to the Bones through an interview for this blog. I found her replies to my questions a lot like a guide to starting and finishing a mystery series.

 

Q: What made you decide to stop writing this very successful thirty-odd book series? Are you planning another mystery series?

CH: Age made me decide. I have always felt awful that Sue Grafton never got to finish the alphabet books. I also wanted the resolution of what happened to Sarah Booth’s parents to be the final book. At 73, I wanted to make sure it ended the way I envisioned. I owe Sarah Booth and the gang that much. They have been loyal friends and characters.

No, I am not writing any other series at this time. I’m going to venture into supernatural thrillers, I think. Just for a change. I love humorous mysteries, but I am keenly feeling the loss of Sarah Booth and her friends in my life. They have been with me for over 30 years, a big part of each day. I love what I call British horror (no gore). And the challenge of melding that into the structure of a thriller fascinates me. And if I’m going to do it, I’d better get in the saddle and ride.

 

Q: So, this new book you are working on, is that going to be a singleton then? Will you expand your use of supernatural characters like the” haint”, Jitty, or will aliens take over the page? Or maybe you will use both or haven’t you decided yet?

CH: I am co-writing with Daryl Marcus, a former student of mine. He and I both love horror. We are writing a book with space to go into a series or one that can be a single title, depending on what the publishers are looking for.

It melds the world of the Fae with a very real South Mississippi local and a serial killer. It’s a handful, but we are enjoying the process.

 

Q: Back to Sarah Booth! One of the things that made reading Joy to the Bones so much for me is how much I immediately related to Sara Booth. She is feisty and fun in ways that made me wish I could sit down and meet her. Is she a lot like you?

CH: Sarah Booth is very much like I was when I was 34--except she is far more limber! I do have a 501c3 animal refuge where I take care of old, unwanted animals in their final years. I've done this my whole life. I have, right now, eight dogs, twelve cats, and two horses. A few crows hang about, but no ravens. I love this so much, but I am getting older now and I am responsible enough to know I have to stop taking in animals. Sarah Booth also adores her friends and, boy, have I been blessed in the friend department. A lot of my friends have died in the last decade, and that is a huge, huge loss. And ending Sarah Booth is another emotional blow. As crazy as it sounds, she was a best friend to me.

 

Q: Are some of the larger issues Sarah Booth addresses, also issues that you find interesting and have worked on?

CH: There is much emotional truth in the Sarah Booth books. She focuses on issues that I am interested in, afraid of, or concerned about. She has more courage than I do. But she is connected to the land, the natural world, and the people around her, just as I am. I wrote a book in 1994, SUMMER OF THE REDEEMERS. In that book I gave Bekka the emotional fabric of my childhood. Not factually true, but emotionally true. Horse crazy, wild in the woods, ghost stories, adventures not far from home. But Sarah Booth is more the grown up me, only a better version.

 

Q: So, Summer of the Redeemers was a single book, not part of any series? Did the experience with that book lead you to Sarah Booth?

CH: It was a two-book contract with Dutton for SUMMER and then followed by TOUCHED. Learning plot and structure took some time, and I loved writing both of these books. They could both be classified as Southern Gothic mysteries, but I didn’t know that when I wrote them. They were published as general fiction.

 

Q: Would you share a bit about how you developed Sarah Booth over the course of the series and how you handled the timing/aging of your cast of characters? When she started out, how old was Sarah Booth? How old is she when the series ends? And if the books cover only a few years, how did you work in the twenty- year past death of her parents?

CH: When the series opens, she is 33. Thirty-one books later, she is only 34 and ½. It is criminally wrong that when I started the series I was 45 and now I am 73? The math isn’t mathing (sic) for me. The whole series arc covers 1and ½ book years--though twenty-eight “human” years.

The car wreck (that caused the death of her parents)happens off screen and years in the past. The books pick up when Sarah Booth is grown and has just returned home to Zinnia from NYC. The thirty-one books cover roughly, twenty months.

 

Q: Has Sarah Booth’s cast of friends been consistent since the beginning of the series? Was Sarah Booth always a PI? If not, when in the series does Sarah become a PI (this last book of yours is my first read in the series) How does that choice of profession help shape her?

CH: Yes, the primary characters are in the first book and continue throughout. But the relationships grow and change. In THEM BONES, Sarah Booth does a really bad thing out of desperation. She steals Tinkie’s little dog, Chablis. (Jitty supports this plan) and ransoms her back to Tinkie. Tinkie is so impressed, she hires Sarah Booth to solve a mystery. In the third book, SPLINTERED BONES, Sarah Booth and Tinkie begin working together to solve mysteries. Prior to being, a detective, Sarah Booth was in NYC attempting to be a stage actress. Things didn’t work out. (The not working out of her acting career is what prompted Sarah Booth to return to Zinnia)

 

Q: What prompted you to make the word “Bones” your title “Signature.” Can you tell us a little about how the titles help shape the series and, in your opinion, do the titles help add to its success?

CH: THEM BONES was the first title and when Random House bought the first book at auction, they wanted a 3-book contract. I thought Bones would be a good way to brand the books. And it’s an easy word to work with for titles. Yes, I think titles are really important.

 

Q: You once mentioned that Zinnia, MS is modeled on your own hometown. Are there any specific places in Zinnia that have real life counterparts with deep meaning for you?

We had a terrific restaurant in Lucedale, my hometown, called The Coffee Pot. Millie’s Cafe is loosely based on that diner. It was a treat to go there for a hamburger steak and coconut pie.

 

Finally,

Q: Is there anything else you would like to tell your readers, fans of the Sarah Booth Delaney mysteries??

CH: I love to write both light/humorous fiction and also dark fiction. I have a 4-book series called the Pluto Snitch: series which is set in the 1920s and deals with a woman who can talk to the dead and is hired to solve mysteries involved paranormal elements. The first title is THE BOOK OF BELOVED and is set in Mobile, Alabama.

 

I am in mourning for Sarah Booth and the gang. They have been such a big part of my life—28 years. It’s hard to voluntarily let go of these stories which I love telling. But the art of life is knowing when to let go.

 

Thank you so much, Carolyn, for your willingness to spend time on these Questions! I am sorry the series is ending since I just discovered it, but I plan to start reading the whole series starting with the first, Them Bones, and work my way back to Joy to the Bones, number 31—that should keep me busy and happy for quite some time.

 

I do hope you enjoy the books. I have loved every minute of writing them. And thank you for your time in doing this interview. I really appreciate it. --Carolyn

 

Joan Leotta ©2026

Joan Leotta offers encouraging words on page and stage. Internationally published as essayist, poet, short story writer, novelist, she’s a multiple nominee for Pushcart and Best of Net. Publications include Synkroniciti, MacQueen’s Quinterly,  One Art, Gargoyle, The Lake, Lothlorien, Ovunquesiamo, The Mackinaw, Ekphrastic Review, Yellow Mama, Impspired, and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

 

She also performs stories for youth and adult audiences with programs that highlight food, kindness, family, and strong women. Her one woman show as Louisa May Alcott focuses on Alcott’s development as a writer of many genres and her time as a Civil War nurse. She also teaches storytelling and writing and has done so for the North Carolina Poetry Society,  NC Writers Network, ND Humanities, and the London Arts-Based Research Center. Contact Joan at Joanleotta@gmail.com

Joan Leotta Reviews: Joy to the Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery by Carolyn Haines

 

Joy to the Bones: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery

Book by Carolyn Haines

Book 31 of this series (and the last)

Available on Amazon in Hardback, Kindle, and Audio

This title will be released on October 27, 2026.

Review by Joan Leotta

 

Holiday season in Zinnia, Mississippi, a bayou country bayou country town, takes on new and rather scary dimensions for private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney. What at first presents as a small, mostly document hunting job, to determine ownership of the DeLonge Mansion turns into a murder case. Of course the abandoned property with seemingly no one left alive to claim ownership, in the swampland near Zinnia, looks the part of a haunted house, but what truly haunts our intrepid protagonist is the discovery that her parents’ deaths twenty years earlier were not accidental, and even worse, her best friend Tinkie Richmond, Sarah Booth’s boyfriend, Coleman Peters, Sherrif of Sunflower County, and even Sara Booth’s friendly “haint” (southern for ghost), Jitty, all knew that it was a murder and to protect Sara Booth had not told her.

 

Sarah Booth is stung to the core, feeling betrayed by those closest to her, and decides to cut ties with all three of them, a decision that leaves her feeling depressed and very very alone. The path to forgiving them for holding back information from her to save her from pain, leads her to discover new things about relationships and puts readers on track with the contemporary mysteries and gives the characters—all of them—a rounding out and depth of personality that made me arrive at a very positive opinion of all of them—put me firmly on their side. In addition, the author, while tracking Sarah Booth’s line of reasoning catches up first-time readers like myself with the place of this novel’s action in the life of our protagonist. Fortunately, she comes to her senses about discarding her living and the dead (Jitty) friends who love her and want to help her, she enlists their help in finding out more about her parents’ murders and also works with Coleman Peters on the contemporary murders that occur on the grounds of the mansion. Once the affirmation of the strength of the friendships is nailed down, the plot moves along smartly.

 

Threats to Sarah Booth add sizzle to the plot which simmers along like a low country crawfish boil. Seems that an old nemesis, Gertrude Stromm, might be a part of the past murder and may also be implicated in the current mansion-related murders. Haines is masterful in her use of dialog to build suspense and keep the book moving along smartly.

 

In spite of the series having been around for a while (30 other books!) this was my first encounter with Sarah Booth and her crew. Haines had a deft hand at description and also uses incidents and character interaction to reveal that Sarah Booth’s feisty, intellect that helps her friends love her and makes readers trust what she observes, inspects, and analyzes in situations of all sorts. In short, it’s easy to begin to think of Sarah Booth as a friend and the book as an encounter described over a lunch (albeit lengthy). Would Sarah Booth want to befriend someone old like me? Well, one of her close circle is well over a hundred years old. For example, I found myself shouting at Sarah Booth not to go to the old mansion alone—and sure enough she finds a dead body there-and sure enough the mystery of ownership is entangled with forces that threaten her safety. Jitty tries to warn her—but Jitty’s messages are coded and can be misinterpreted-.

 

In fact, those parts of the haint’s character, that no one except Sarah Booth can see and talk to Jitty and the haint’s use of code to communicate were two factors I did not like about the book. But once I decided to accept these elements, I was able to appreciate how Haine use them to advance the story and I allowed myself to become immersed in the solving of these two cases—the mansion murders and ownership issues and the murder of Sarah Booth’s Parents. In fact, I became so immersed, I stayed up all night reading. Haines is a master of pacing. Although I own a raft of bookmarks, I was reluctant to put one anyplace in the book. I just kept reading!

 

With a few suggestive lines at a happily -ever-after, (perhaps orange blossoms and even a law degree) for Sarah Booth, Haines leaves Sarah Booth with this mystery. Joy to the Bones is the last time we will open a book that carries us through another of Sarah Booth Delaney’s bayou adventures.  Although we readers will not be able to continue to watch future happenings for these characters, just as life often whisks us away from close contact with people we meet, I wish them well. And of course, for anyone who misses Sarah Booth, it is always possible to reread the earlier mysteries, starting with the first in the series, Them Bones, published in November 1999. And although the time period for readers’ lives covers several decades, Haines says that the time elapsed for Sarah Booth is under three years. Fans of the series will definitely want to read this last installment, and for others, who like me, have not read it before, Joy to the Bones is a great little holiday mystery and a fun read that can be enjoyed on its own.

 

 

For more information on Caroyn Haines’ future writing plans, check out the interview with her that will also appear on Kevin’s blog.

 

 

Joan Leotta ©2026

The Rap Sheet: Revue of Reviewers: 5-7-26

 The Rap Sheet: Revue of Reviewers: 5-7-26

Joan Leotta Reviews: Death Times Seven: A Daniel Pitt Novel by Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim

  

Death Times Seven: A Daniel Pitt Novel (Book 7 of 7 in the series)

by Anne Perry and Victoria Zackheim 

Publication Date: Apr 14, 2026

Available in Kindle, HB, ($30) and Paper

ISBN#: 978-0593982518

Published by Ballantine Books

Pages: 288 in HB

 

Review by Joan Leotta

 

Imagine that you’ve been out of touch with an old friend for a while and then, unexpectedly, you meet again. That’s how I felt about reading the newest Daniel Pitt mystery from the pen of the late great Anne Perry. I’m a hardcore Perry fan—all of her series. Several of the lines ran their course naturally, but the Daniel Pitt series and the Elena Standish series have young protagonists, so it was harder to say good-by to them when news of Perry’s death was published.

 

However, it seems that before her death she entrusted Daniel and his wife Miriam and the other regulars of this series which follows the young lawyer and wife in their quest for justice for individuals and for society as a whole, in the early twentieth century. By allowing Victoria Zackheim, a close friend as well as an editor to finish this book she has given us a gift from beyond the grave, a legacy of words.

 

Death Times Seven takes place in 1913 England. Daniel is asked to take over (mid -trial) for a more senior person in the law firm, fellow attorney, Toby Kitteridge, who had to leave London upon learning of the sudden brutal attack on his parents in their parsonage—mother dead, accused father.

 

Miriam Ifford Croft (Daniel’s wife), of course, as always, has much to offer, helping Daniel to defend the hapless Peter Ward, the client, whose innocence it seems was only believed by Kitteridge and then herself and Daniel. As the two cases develop, we are given entry to the courts as the trial proceeds as well as to the workings of forensic pathology in that era. New evidence surfaces. We are also party to the mystery in the countryside where Toby is valiantly trying to help his father recover and clear the cleric’s name. Daniel travels out to the countryside to help his friend. It’s a satisfying dual mystery, well plotted, character driven, and full of excitement.

 

I’m often wary of these posthumous additions to a series. But this one is a true gem. Zackheim has seamlessly woven whatever part of the story she was to finish.

 

How did she do it? From a reader’s standpoint, plot and structure are well done. But what brands this book as a piece true to Perry is the way the characters are handled, particularly young Daniel. As I was reading the book, reserving judgment as I traversed the paragraphs, I was confronted with a scene that made me realize the depth of Zackheim’s commitment to the sharing the character of Daniel as Perry had oft portrayed him---she sets a scene where Daniel cuts off a thick slice of bread and slathers it with butter (jam in another place) and eats it as much as for its comfort as for its value as sustenance.

 

This gesture, one that defines Daniel as a man who enjoys the simple things, is typical of Perry and the particular gesture is one that reminds us of Daniel’s youth and even harks back to the time when we knew him as a boy in the William and Charlotte Pitt (his parents) series. I could not stop reading it. Stayed up all night, not wanting to miss any part of it. Will likely read it a second time for the shear enjoyment of the language and to say goodbye once more to these characters. I suppose ending with the seventh is a series is fitting since seven is considered one of the perfect numbers, but I would certainly not be averse to reading number eight, even if wholly penned by Zackheim.

 

But if this is the end, the last new novel by Perry to read, it is certainly a fitting tribute to her talent and her love of the characters she has created and we, her loyal readers, have come to know and love.

My electronic copy came from a reading service. I’m already on the wait list at my local library; I’d like to hold the hardback in my hand to read. Definitely one of my top three books so far this year.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4bbv3Cw

 

  

Joan Leotta ©2026 

Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, essays, cnf, short stories, and articles are widely published. Mysteries are favorite things to read.. short and long.. and to write.

Review News 2/9 to 2/15/2025

This past week on the blog review wise….

 

Today, Scott reviewed Cult of the Lamb Vol. 1: The First Verse by Alex Paknadel (Author), Nick Filardi (Colorist), Crank! (Letterer), and Troy Little (Illustrator).

https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/scotts-take-cult-of-lamb-vol-1-first.html

 

Wednesday, I reviewed Eleven Numbers: A Short Story by Lee Child.

https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/short-story-wednesday-review-eleven.html

 

Tuesday, I reviewed Passions in Death: In Death Series by J. D. Robb.

https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/review-passions-in-death-in-death.html

 

Monday brought the latest review by Aubrey Nye Hamilton as she reviewed, Someone to Blame by J. J. Green.

https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/aubrey-nye-hamilton-reviews-someone-to.html

 

Last Sunday, author Joan Leotta returned to the blog with her review of Killing Time: An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries).

https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2025/02/joan-leotta-reviews-killing-time-agatha.html

 

Stay up to date by following the blog and get reviews, news, and other posts as they go live, by subscribing by way of the Follow-It app over on the left side of this blog.  

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Joan Leotta Reviews: Killing Time: An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries)

Please welcome author Joan Leotta back to the blog today…

  

Killing Time: An Agatha Raisin Mystery (Agatha Raisin Mysteries) Hardcover – October 8, 2024

by M. C. Beaton (Author), R.W. Green (Author)

Review By Joan Leotta

 

Yes, M.C. Beaton, aka Marion Chesney, did leave this world for the next in 2019. However, she wanted her two series protagonists, Agatha Raisin, and Hamish MacBeth to continue to have adventures and  solve mysteries even after she would no longer be able to wield a pen. To that end, late in her life, she invited R.W. Green to become the author of these mystery series. She put Green through rigorous training in the ways and whiles of her characters and her various plot techniques..

 

This fourth Agatha Raisin installment by Green—Killing Time—shows he has indeed mastered

the elements readers expect while also developing the characters in directions true to their Beaton-given nature, but with a bit of his own experience to further enrich our entertainment and their arc.

Raisin is an especially difficult character to write because she requires a delicate balance of feisty, hard-nosed, irascible, yet with enough vulnerability to elicit enough empathy from readers to make them care about what happens to her and even cheer her on in her adventures. 

This entry into the canon takes Agatha temporarily out of the Cotswolds to Pollonsea in Mallorca, for her to meet with her newest love interest, a retired cop turned cruise line dance instructor, John Clarke. Never fear,  Killing Time is stepped in Cotswold lore and the hiatus at the sea is not a diversion, but also proves to be another important strand in the unraveling of the mystery. 

The novel begins with an ordinary investigation into robberies in the area. Then, ever susceptible to flattery, Agatha, in spite of a full schedule, is talked into managing an area-wide festival for charity in support of  an old friend’s winery venture. After deciding that a charity auction would attract large spenders, Agatha approaches a local  antique dealer who takes Agatha to an auction. At the auction Agatha falls in love—with a clock. After a viscous bidding war,  she purchases a gaudy antique clock,  paying far more than it’s evaluated worth. Learning that the clock does not work, the dealer offers to take it to his shop for her to have his brother, a clock savant of sorts to examine it for her. 

The situation takes an urgent turn and the pace of the novel ramps up when that same antique dealer is murdered, and her clock is the only thing missing from his shop. In the usual wonderful way of these novels, Agatha, with the help of the ever-lovely Toni and others from her Detective agency staff, finds connections between various people, the clock, and other events in the area. In the midst of the action,  wanting to take a break from all the stress, Agatha decamps for a brief jaunt to Mallorca to meet John, her new love interest when his ship docks and he will have a few days off from his dance instruction duties. However, upon landing there, her hopes for a continuing and true romance with ex-cop John are shattered and she decamps to the lovely Pollonsea in another part of the Island until it is time for her to return home.

The plot process and action along with some occasional petulance on Agatha’s part are  a delight as always. I reveled in the descriptions of this new place in Mallorca as well as the usual entanglements and hijinks and was totally captivated by the ending. And yes, the antique timepiece at the center of the mystery becomes  a character in itself—well done, Mr. Green!

All of these threads are skillfully embroidered into the fabric of the tale with a solution that covers all of the crimes, and the issues Agatha had with John. As always, Agatha’s sharp mind is the needle that works out the solution from these seemingly disparate threads.

Is there a happy conclusion? Well, I will leave that for you to discover but I will say this--future tension  with her old beau Charles this time leaves promising himself to try to win Agatha back instead of the more often seen reverse situation.

In short, this is fast -paced and fun read. I finished this installment on one dismal afternoon and put it down with a smile. If you crave a mystery with a side of smiles, seek out the Raisin Mysteries. Agatha plows ahead with all her usual intelligence, cupidity, and bluster even after her creator’s demise. Although I always enjoy a series in order, this book works as a single read so pick up Killing Time if you have some time on your hands. Note well: if you possess a gaudy antique clock, you might want to start researching its history.

Five stars 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/416SiKb

 

Joan Leotta ©2025

Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, essays, cnf, short stories, and articles are widely published. Mysteries are favorite things to read.. short and long.. and to write. 

Joan Leotta Reviews: The Medici Return by Steve Berry

 

Please welcome back author Joan Leotta to the blog today….

 

Review of Steve Berry’s The Medici Return by Joan Leotta

The Medici Return (Cotton Malone)

Book 19 of 19: Cotton Malone  | by Steve Berry  | Release Date Feb 11, 2025

 

 

This one I received in advance of its pub date from the publisher through NetGalley.

 

This is the 19^th in Berry’s series featuring Cotton Malone, an intrepid detective now working for a secret US agency. Through them Malone becomes involved with helping the Catholic church with a sticky problem calling for confidentiality and break in skills. Malone, armed with those skills , his eidetic memory, and flair for languages (helped by same) ships off to Italy to find evidence of wrongdoing by a cardinal of the church. Who hired him? Vatican. Who is the villain? Another arm of the Vatican—so many secrets here! And oh yes, the Medici! (A 500 year old mystery enters in)

 

When it comes to popes, the Medici were no slouches. When it comes to dirty dealing, the same. Plot issues here span centuries and  connect to modern day crimes. One of the things I absolutely love about this book is the setting in Italy—Sienna, which I only got to know in 2023, Florence where I spent a lot of time while a student in Bologna, and oh yes, the Vatican museum and my beloved Rome.

 

Each of these carries a wonderful weight of historical interest and intrigue. Enough for ten books. In this case, Sienna  and its annual Palio, a free for all of an historic horse race becomes a central element to the plot. Berry is ingenious as to how he works this into his tale about finding = an ancient document. I applaud his creativity and oh yes, I must applaud the horsemanship of Cotton Malone as well. Heroes such as cotton Malone are often invested with far-beyond-normal abilities to deal with things like taking over the jockey role in a bareback race, the Palio. I was happy to suspend disbelief and bear down with Malone as he leaned over the neck of his steed and pushed forward to the goal while other jockeys tried to trip them up and a gunman had a rifle trained on Malone.

 

Wait, do you think all of this distracted me from the main mystery? Who killed the Swiss guard in the book’s early pages? The mysterious missing Medici era document that would cost the church billions of dollars if found? The two or three other subsequent murders and attempts on Malone’s life that follow? Nope.

 

Never fear—Berry is a master juggler of plot elements. These balls are never out of sight. To draw on another metaphor, he weaves all of the threads cleverly, carefully and at just the right moment, inserts one than then another element together to keep readers on track even as the plot twists and turns with more gyrations than that round, stone track in Sienna’s main piazza.

 

I’m only a so-so Malone fan in general, in spite of good dialogue and plotting,  but this book brought out Berry’s writing skills and took me back to a city (Sienna) I enjoy, and had me traipsing through Rome and Florence, two cities I love, while still captivating me with the plot, so I must give this book a five star recommendation.

 

Both for fans of Malone, occasional readers of the series such as myself and dare I say—even if if you have never read Berry’s Malone series before, I think you will enjoy this fast-paced well and deviously plotted book.

Five stars

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4aDY6hu

 

 

 

Joan Leotta ©2025

Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, essays, cnf, short stories, and articles are widely published. Mysteries are favorite things to read.. short and long.. and to write.

Joan Leotta Reviews: Death of a Scholar: A Father Gabriel Mystery by Fiorella De Maria

Death of a Scholar: A Father Gabriel Mystery

By Fiorella De Maria

Publisher St. Ignatius Books

·         Paperback ‏ : ‎ 262 pages

·         ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1621645177

·         ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1621645177

 

 

 

Slowly. The book begins slowly. I was fifty pages into it before the “action” began. Be prepared that this is a book to read on afternoons when you are ready to relax with your novel, ready for a long chat over tea. This more old-fashioned sort of beginning for a mystery novel than today’s slam bang way of starting a tale might have put me off, but the idea of following the path of Father Gabriel, a man who shares my father’s name, and who is a formerly married priest, well, that was too intriguing. I persisted and am glad I did.

 

In postwar England, the time period of Chesterton’s priest, Gabriel brings that added sensibility of a widowed man, (now celibate for God). His extensive “lived” insights into human relationships and sharp observational skills are what make him a great detective and confidant to those who seek his counsel.

 

De Maria, by forcing me to slow down, did make me “smell the roses” more closely terms of better appreciating her excellent plotting and intricate physiological character assessments. This is the fourth installment of the series, and the first chapter takes us into Gabriel’s mind and allows us to catch up with who he is and where he is. Gabriel’s inner self is central to the book—to all of them, I imagine. We meet him  as he sits in the rooms of his old university friend, an academic, at their alma mater.

On page 46 the action of murder mystery begins—“something has happened” Arthur, another key character in this novel, tells Gabriel and off the two of them go to discover the dead body, a woman holding a nitrogen canister.

 

-Yet, even with the action starting, De Maria, is not in a hurry. The case and Gabriel’s insights unfold with the precious care of a rosebud on a partly sunny day. Along the way, De Maria carefully plants the bits and pieces we and Gabriel need to solve the mystery—"who dunnit” as they say.

 

Because of my impatience with such pacing, I can only give this mystery a four star, but it is outstanding, and pacing is not all.  Although  I wish she had moved Father Gabriel along more quickly, I must say, which descriptions would I have consigned to the bin? Which interactions with other characters? Which musings of Gabriel either on the case and about his background?  No, I cannot really fault her for lagging “behind” my preferred reading pace—thanks to the beauty of her language, the intimacy of the dialogue she conjures up between Gabriel and the other characters and his own musings.

 

Will I read more of these if they come out? Yes, and I plan to read the previous three—because now that I’ve put the book down, I miss Father Gabriel. I want to know him better. I’m looking forward to the next one in the series. Definitely the resolution of the mystery is important—that woman, the cannister, what happened, the moral minefield that faces scientists whose work contributes to weapons, but there is more to life than that. De Maria does not bow to the current trend of rapid-fire action, instead giving reads time to see the broader picture of  life. Like the mysteries of the classical age. A mystery to be savored.

 

My reading copy came from the publisher with no expectation of a review.

Joan Leotta ©2022

Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, essays, cnf, short stories, and articles are widely published. Mysteries are favorite things to read.. short and long.. and to write.

Joan Leotta Reviews: Peppermint Barked: A Spice Shop Mystery by Leslie Budewitz

Published by Seventh Street Books (July 19, 2022)

Paperback ‏: ‎ 236 pages, $17.95 on Amazon, Kindle, $9.9

ISBN-10: ‎ 1645060543

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1645060543

 

Relief from the heat of summer comes in the form of this Christmas mystery released in July.

The best part of this early holiday gift is that we can vicariously enjoy a Dickens themed festival in the hallowed halls of Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Add to that the spice shop milieu of the series—mmm, if I didn’t know better I could have sworn that the book actually smells of cinnamon. Unfortunately the holiday spirit is slashed by a murder in the Market’s wine shop, in a pool of blood redder than the shop’s cabernet—a young girl, Beth Yardley, a relative newcomer to the area, but who protagonist Pepper Reece knows is the victim and Pepper is on the scene when the wine shop owner’s ex-wife discovers the body. While the ex-wife is screaming, Pepper calls 911, and so begins her involvement. 

All of this murder and the relationship and other mayhem that follow (revealed secrets and more!) start on Black Friday, the busiest day of the year for in person shopping. Finding a dead body was not on Pepper’s to-do list. The Spice Shop has designated the day, “Black Pepper “ Friday and is offering specials on that spice—cute and fun. One of the aspects of this book is that Budewitz, while fulfilling expectations of the cozy genre does not rely on old standards. For instance,  Pepper Reece’s boyfriend is not a cop. Ok, her first husband was, but they are still friends, not mortal enemies! The various family secrets come in a variety of flavors from harmless to not so much. The Market itself plays a role in helping Pepper solve the mystery and in hampering her. Budewitz lays down red herrings with the aplomb of a fisherman, quite apropos since the Fish market is one of the famous spots in the Pike Place Market. Family secrets of various folk come to light, motives abound. While Pepper navigates the  twists and turns of the mystery, we are treated to a cookie loving detective, and later to the recipes for some of those treats. 

This novel is cozy all the way—great characters, fun complications in main character lives, and food. I love the inclusion of recipes in a book—and can’t wait for the next Pepper Reece mystery. In spite of the fact that this is the sixth in the Spice Shop series, it was my first, but by page five, Pepper Reece seemed like an old friend. Budewtiz skillfully weaves in “catch-up” material for her very likeable main characters  along with the threads of the new story. (I even began to fret for Pepper’s meeting with her fisherman boyfriend’s brother along with scratching my head along with Pepper as to who committed the murder.),Her descriptions of place and dialog are not only lovely, but they also advance the story at every turn. I found the sayings at the beginning of each chapter to be fun and on reflection , illuminating as well. It's easy to see why Budewitz wins so many awards, Agatha (three fiction and one for non-fiction) and a slew of others. Her work has also won or been nominated for Derringer, Anthony, and Macavity awards. A past president of Sisters in Crime and a current board member of Mystery Writers of America.

I plan to start reading the five I’ve missed to keep me busy while Leslie is at the computer with book number seven.

 

Note: I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher but with no expectation of the kind of review I would give.

 

Joan Leotta ©2022 

Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, essays, cnf, short stories, and articles are widely published. Mysteries are favorite things to read.. short and long.. and to write.

Joan Leotta Reviews: Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian

Hardcover $21.99 on Amazon

Kindle $13.99

Publisher : ‎ Minotaur Books (March 15, 2022)

341 pages

Review by Joan Leotta

 

Gigi Pandian’s newest release, Under Lock & Skeleton Key  is a read you will find hard to put down. Pandian has a reputation as the “Queen of the Impossible Mystery.” This latest entry into her canon is another proof that this reputation is well deserved. 

I asked Pandian why these “impossible” mysteries like the locked room variety, fascinate her. She responded, “An impossible crime is the ultimate mystery. It brings another level to a story.” She added that the best of them combine fantastic atmosphere and entertaining characters like John Dickson Carr with his character, Dr. Fell. It’s a high bar, but one that she manages to reach with facility. Her writing is a joyful amalgamation of deftly drawn portraits of people, dialog that is bright, fresh, and entertaining, locale descriptions that build the mystery and cleverly constructed, mind-bending plot lines. 

Tempest Raj, a new character for Pandian, like other protagonists in her short stories and novels, often share this love of impossible mysteries which leads  to that character recommending or mentioning classic impossible mysteries to other characters (and thereby also to the reader). It’s through these references that I discovered the work of Carr and others. This new character, Raj brings yet another element of to the mystery—magic. 

In an article on the site, novelsuspects.com Pandian explains that from childhood she has also been fascinated with magic and the idea of a magician who solves mysteries. In fact, she notes that her second published short story a locked-room mystery, features a stage magician (Sanjay Rai, who performs as The Hindi Houdini). She adds that stage magicians have “a perfect skill-set for solving seemingly impossible crimes.” These are the skills of the art of misdirection  key to a magician’s work. She does not mention the books used to fortify her research for this novel, but on request gave me these titles: Slight of Mind, Hiding the Elephant, and The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick. Pandian puts all of these interests, the locked room mystery, the art of misdirection, and a protagonist who is a stage magician together masterfully in Under Lock & Skeleton Key.

Tempest Raj, our protagonist, has been working as a stage magician in Las Vegas. A horrific accident on stage involving the woman who is both her stage double and rival, threat of lawsuits, forces her to take a career break and  move back to her childhood home in California. Although this financially necessary arrangement is necessary, moving in with parents as an adult has a set of potential plot points all its own. In the case of Raj, this move also  adds an element of the discovery of a family curse, reconnection with childhood friends, and renewal of her own relationship with the family’s construction business. 

Her loving family is a talented group of storytellers, cooks, artists, and builders whose construction company specializes in creating “mystery rooms” and other wonderful, fantastic features in homes and other buildings. These features are a part of their own family home. In fact,Tempest reaches her own childhood bedroom via a secret staircase. No wonder she became a magician. 

When the murder of her dead rival/double occurs on the family doorstep, Tempest wants to help solve it to both keep the police from suspecting her and also simply to solve the mystery. The theft of her beloved charm bracelet, a gift from her long -dead mother, adds to the mists of mystery and danger surrounding this young woman’s life. Along the way, she unravels secrets about the family curse and renews herself with the love and support of family and friends. The young detective assigned to the murder adds a of a love interest, but it is the twists and turns and the older friendships and family relationships that keep this plot rolling forward. I look forward to seeing what develops with the detective in future adventures of this young woman. Yes, this mystery is concluded cleverly and well—but I still want to know more about Tempest Raj! She is a fascinating young woman. Pandian told me she does plan to write more about her, so I will return this book to the library, secure in the knowledge that I can look forward to meeting with Tempest Raj again and embroiling myself in the art of magic and the solution of yet another impossible mystery with her and her creator, Gigi Pandian. 

Note: When you look this book up on Amazon you will see that the title is listed with a subtitle: A Secret Staircase Mystery. I did not ask Pandian if this was a subtle nod to Nancy Drew’s classic titles. I look forward to finding out when I see the next installment in the adventures of Tempest Raj.

 

 

Joan Leotta ©2022 

Joan Leotta plays with words on page and stage. Her poetry, essays, cnf, short stories, and articles are widely published. Mysteries are favorite things to read.. short and long.. and to write.