Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
Lucinda drives up to Salado, New Mexico to be with her lover Devon before her daughter Amy joins them. They live in separate homes because Devon is a fugitive, having committed murder and she doesn't feel that a lasting commitment between them is possible even though she loves him dearly. Often making love, Devon steps out of the house at 3:00 a.m. to see his neighbor widow Natalie Wieland; but when he gets there, he finds her dead body brutally slashed.
Lucinda wakes up and through her tears realize Devon and Natalie were lovers. She can't complain because neither promised the other exclusivity. When Amy hears what happened, she comes up to lend her support and discovers that the chief of police thinks that all of them could have committed the killing. Lucinda's motive was jealous; Amy's was protecting her mother; while Devon was afraid Natalie would tell Lucinda about their affair. Devon inserts herself into the murder investigation to clear his name and discovers that Natalie had to have other lovers including the sheriff and her brother in law, but struggles with a better motive than those pinned on him and his female guests.
This romantic suspense tale is full of action and interesting sub-plots that gives the reader other likely suspects, who had viable motives but the investigation centers on figuring out who had the incentive to kill. Lucinda is brave woman to love a fugitive knowing she will eventually lose him and her daughter is an amazing person who can accept what he did and love him. Readers will admire Elizabeth Fackler's ability to tell a credible sleuth story.
The Accidental SleuthHelen Macie OstermanFive Star, August 2007, $25.5, 273 pp.ISBN: 9781594145810
Sixty year old Emma Winberry has been living in her town condominium for the last four months after selling her home and she has never been happier. Nate Sandler adores Emma even if he isn't quite sure he believes in her sixth sense and her Guardian Angel. When new neighbors move in next door, she meets Laura Evans a frightened woman and teenage anorexic looking Teresa who is devoted to her aunt. The husband is rarely seen but Emma gets the impression he is a brute who abuses the women in his life. She fears that something that will happen to Teresa and it does.
Something horrific happens to Emma when she is mistakenly snatched by two thugs who leave her tied up in an old apartment house to die. She breaks free of her bonds with the help of her Gardian Angel and a homeless man who is living in the abandoned building saves her. Jake persuades Minnie to come forward to give back what she took from a man that was killed. While helping Minnie and Jake, the homeless man who found and helped her get medical attention after she escaped from the kidnappers, she finds herself in danger from hoodlums seeking her neighbors; Emma vows to keep them safe even if it means carrying a gun.
Emma is strong, independent and willing to help others. This makes her the perfect role model for women to emulate. Although those is no blood and gore and the murder happens before the book begins, this is a delightful sometimes humorous cozy. The secondary characters of Minnie and Jake, two homeless but not helpless people are as important as the heroine because they enhance the plot with depth especially enabling the audience to better understand what motivates Emma.