Nora Page’s ‘Old Lady Sleuth’ cosy mystery “Better
Off Read” certainly is one of the best in the genre that I’ve read so far.
Our heroine here is Cleo Watkins, aged 75, who’s
trying to save the library of Catalpa Springs, Georgia, which has been damaged
by a storm. The arrogant young Mayor Jeb Day, though, prefers tourist fishing
piers and boat casinos to libraries and makes it clear to her he’s not going to
give her any money for the repairs; and what’s worse, he even wants to take her
library caravan “Words on Wheels” from her!
Together with her young colleague Leanne,
she tries to get some money out of eccentric Buford Krandall, a friend of the
library; he’s been reading a lot of books about murder recently, all written by
local writer Priscilla Pawpaw… He says he’s got a plan against the Mayor whom
he loathes, so together with her charming friend Henry Lafayette, who owns the
local antiques and rare books shop, Cleo goes to visit Buford in his eerie old
villa – but, what a shock, they find him dead in his library!
During the murder investigation, we get to
know all the more or less suspicious characters in Catalpa Springs: Police Chief
Culpepper, who’s a friend of Mayor Day; Buford’s neighbour Mary-Rose, an old
friend of Cleo’s, who is rather pleased about his death; Cleo’s grandson Ollie
and his girlfriend Whitney, an environmentalist (Buford had been polluting the spring
waters, and his drill was destroyed on the night he was murdered), Bitsy, the
local banker's wife and very active member of the ladies' club…
When Cleo and Henry finally get to talk to
the real crime writer, Priscilla Pawpaw, they learn that Buford had been very
interested in her notes for her latest book “Fatal Florida”! Next, the two
amateur sleuths learn that Whitney actually is the daughter of Buford’s
estranged half-brother; then, the library on wheels is being sabotaged – and
then, another murder occurs…
A delightful read, both playful and enormously
clever, a feast surely for all fans of the genre, with twists and turns and
lovable characters – and, of course, at the end of the book the interested
reader will find the recipe for a delicious cake!
https://www.amazon.com/Better-Off-Read-Bookmobile-Mystery-ebook/dp/B075QJRD2J/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1548950382&sr=1-1&keywords=better+off+read
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