Book Review: Footprints In The Butter

Reviewed By: Carl Brookins - RAM

Footprints In The Butter     Amazon US PB Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada PB
Denise Dietz
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth   Dogs
Delphi Books, 1998, 227 pages, $23.95

I think you have to come at this book with the right frame of mind and stay in it until you are finished. Ingrid Beaumont and her ganglionic mutt are all over the murder of Wylie Jameston, who is anything but---wily. Remember that phrase, ganglionic mutt. The author uses it a couple of times and it appears on the jacket as well.

A wisecracking artist who constantly tells riddles and elephant jokes is murdered at a reunion of his high school class, of which the amateur sleuth, Ingrid, is also a member. With little discernable reason, Ingrid decides to charge in with Hitchcock, the mutt of reference above, and solve the murder, since it appears to her the cops are never going to manage that task.

There are lots of characters in this book and several scenes which by turns will make you laugh and shake your head or grind your teeth in frustration. The solution is complicated and there are lots of characters to keep track of. At times an unfocused sub-plot involving Ingrid's ex, who may or may not be her ex, threatens to obscure the main theme which is that high school reunions can be hell.

I laughed some, ground my teeth a good deal, and wished the author had had an editor with a firmer hand at times. There'll be more adventures with Ingrid and her ganglionic mutt. In spite of its problems, this is the kind of mystery which will attract a large and loyal following.

Carl Brookins - RAM

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