Book Review: Found Dead In Texas

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Found Dead In Texas     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Jan Grape
Class/Genre:   Mystery   [Short Stories]
Five Star, Dec 2002, $25.95, 219 pp.

This crime anthology consists of nine tales, of which five star the wonderful female investigative partners C.J. Gunn and Jenny Gordon. The G&G quintet are all quite good and in some ways overwhelm the remaining four contributions though they are also entertaining tales. Still the key to this book is that the prime players in this anthology are all strong cast members for the most part performing reasonable sleuthing tasks. However it is the G&G duo that stands out but not because they are starring in over half the stories. They are the most developed of the characters and could easily be transferred into a novel as lead protagonists (not so subtle of a hint that hopefully the author hears through the grapevine). Each of the stories are creative and refreshingly plotted but they are not clones of one another. They are unique in their own right and even the non-G&G stories can be expanded into a good novel. Readers will find the G&G so unbelievably good that they will be enthralled by each story and wish that there were more of them to read in this surprisingly good anthology. FOUND DEAD IN TEXAS is a wonderful collection that showcases the talent of Jan Grape who relates appealing crime dramas to the mystery crowd. Fans of cosies and amateur sleuth tales must read this work.

Harriet Klausner

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