Review: Mountain Ice

It is possible to write a cozy B&B/genealogy genre mystery involving spousal abuse, mental illness, disfunctional families, suicide, include an outdoor sports theme emphacizing ice climbing and to leave the reader feeling cozy and wanting more. R. E. Derouin has done it.

This book is third in the David Dean mystery series. David Dean is a 50ish retired police officer. I have not read the first two books in the series, but obviously the characters t grow faster than average and a reader would likely prefer to read them in order. Apparantly in the first one David Dean meets Cynthia, a woman with grown children. By the second book, they are married and have moved to Ouray, Colorado, an old mining community, to run the Birdsong B&B in a 9 bedroom Victorian house. David's stepfather Fred makes the third member of the family.

I found the warm, solid, angst free relationship between the middleage newlyweds refreshing so early in a series.. I also liked the close friendly relationship between David Dean and his mystery reading stepfather.

Generally I hate it when people describe characters as quirky, because it seems to be a code word for traits that I find unlikeable. But there is no other word to describe some of the characters that move through this story. The guests at Birdsong in this volume include, a runaway wife who may or may not be abused and/or crazy and her young son; a man who is probably the father of the child, at least according to the runaway wife; a group of ice wall climbers participating in the annual ice festival; two older ladies from Boston come to claim artifacts possibly belonging to an aunt who was either the wife of a missionary preacher, or a prostitute; an unpublished SF authoress trying to finish her 7th book, and who writes her books in her dreams, the maid Janet who drinks a bit too much and her niece with a somewhat odd living situation; and possibly a friendly ghost.

The guests as characters are as interesting or more so than any mystery. And there are two in this one. There is probably more focus in the story on an old diary written in code and the decoding effort by many people at Birdsong, than in death in the present. In fact until late in the book I thought I was reading one of those rare mysteries that don't have a murder. When a death occurs it is questionable whether it was murder, but of course David Dean and his wife are strong suspects which provides a nice subplot involving their relationship with the local Sheriff and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

I liked the way he planted clues, and the way his characters picked up on them, neither too obvious nor too buried. Its possible to figure out what is a clue and what it means if the reader cares to. But for those who don't, the story moves right along. .There is a noirish suspense flavor to the story and more than a touch of irony, which is reminiscent of Cornell Woolrich. Yet there are the cozy elements, not overdone, but complete with cats, tea and cocoa, people snuggled under quilts on snowy January nights, chats by the fireplace or in the kitchen where the smell of breakfast pastries or sturdy winter dinner fare are noted. There are a couple of romantic plot lines, but they aren't overdone. They are just right. Even nudes running through the house were done with enough propriety that I was comfortable. And there is a light dusting of humor. While not a laugh out loud every minute funny book I found myself laughing on occasion and more often realized I was grinning widely.

More than the average male writer I've read, this author spends time on descriptions, painting moods and atmosphere as well as action. He gives his characters the chance to enjoy their day and the Colorado winter rather than just rush from clue to clue. And he gives the reader the chance to enjoy the characters.

I was delighted the way he uses words and phrases. It is pleasure to read just for that. Usually after I've read a mystery and I know the solution, I have no interest in ever reading the book again. But the author concentrates on the everyday life of the establishment, and there is so much going on in this book it rises above being a mere mystery and reads more like literature that it could be read again and again because you enjoy spending time in that setting with those characters. I'd like to check in to the Birdsong B&B.

This would be a great read for just after Christmas, so it would make a wonderful Christmas gift. I think people who have enjoyed authors such Cornell Woolrich, Anne George, Willard Scott, Tim Myers, Jennifer Chiaverini, Corinne Holt Sawyer, Patricia Guiver, Monica Ferris, Leslie Meier or Deborah Woodworth would enjoy this book. Those who enjoy B&B, small town, and historical genre would too.

Book Review: Mountain Ice