Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Dead Cat Bounce
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Sarah Graves
Class/Genre: Mystery Cozy Woman Main Character
Series: Home Repair Is Homicide # 1
Bantam, Sep 1998, $5.50, 320 pp.
It has been about a year since Jacobia Tiptree and her teenage son left their townhouse in Manhattan's upper east side. The duo moved into an old house, needing tons of repair, in Eastport, Maine, a place about three hours from Bangor. The last thing Jake expected to see in this quaint village is a corpse. However, lying on the floor of her storeroom is a dead man with an ice pick sticking out from his skull. Jake's best friend Ellie White calls the part time police officer, George Valentine.
The victim turns out to be Threnody McIlwane, a former native, who became a billionaire by operating as a notorious corporate raider. The death of someone as internationally known as Threnody leads to the world descending on this small hamlet. Ellie shockingly confesses to the crime, but Jake cannot believe that her pal could commit a murder. Jake begins her own inquiries, but has aroused the ire of someone, perhaps the real culprit, who warns the outsider to cease and desist in her investigation or else.
THE DEAD CAT BOUNCE is a fun to read New England regional who-done-it. Most of the characters have that intriguing Yankee flavor to them. Readers will find especially interesting the motivations of the transplanted New Yorker and the prime suspect. Sarah Graves has written a wonderful amateur sleuth tale that fans of the sub-genre will fully enjoy and want to see more novels starring Jake and company. This author's debut mystery novel is pure platinum.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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