Book Review: Shivaree

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Shivaree     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Sophie Dunbar
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Claire Claiborne # 4
Intrigue, 1999, $22.95, 305 pp.

Though the wedding was switched from Atlanta to the New Orleans newly opened Riverside Manor Hotel, Claire and Dan Clairborne are happy for the couple. With less than two weeks before the Christmas Eve nuptials, Claire’s best friend Charlotte Dalton is marrying Dan’s friend and legal partner Foley Callant.

However, Claire’s thoughts of bliss change when the guests begin to arrive. The Dalton gang clearly divides into two seemingly armed camps, who loathe each other. The “Swamp” Daltons and the “Society” Daltons do not allow a happy event to interfere with their long standing feud. Though not an invitee, Foley’s former wife arrives to cause even more desolation and destruction among Charlotte’s side of the gathering group. All that wrangling seems like mere child’s play when a murder occurs. Amateur sleuth Claire, who has helped in prior homicide investigations, cannot resist sleuthing.

SHIVAREE is a humorous amateur sleuth cozy that provides readers with interesting, spiteful, and badmouthing characters ready to orally assassinate someone else. The lead protagonists remain a warm couple (see BEHIND ECLAIRE’S DOOR) and their best friends deserve a nicer ceremony. Readers who enjoy a jocular look at a large wedding will relish the “Eclaire” mystery. However, those readers who prefer their novels filled with non-stop action and suspense need to stay away from red velvet cake and diet on some other fare.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner