Reviewed By: Ruth Jordan - RAM
Mallets Aforethought
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Sarah Graves
Class/Genre: Mystery Cozy Woman Main Character
Series: Home Repair Is Homicide # 7
March 2004, Bantam Books 304 pages/$21.95
MALLETS AFORETHOUGHT is billed as “A Home Repair is Homicide Mystery”. The forth in the series of mysteries featuring Jacobia Tiptree is an engaging tale of murder in small town Maine. The story opens as “Jake” and her friend and side-kick Ellie are doing their obligatory volunteer work for the historical society. And as they strip old wallpaper away they uncover a room that no one’s entered in eighty years. Strike that for at least two people have been there very recently. One person is a murderer and the other a fresh corpse. And to complicate matters further for our amateur sleuth next to the fresh body is the skeleton of a flapper. Two crimes for the price of one.
The chief suspect in the fresh crime is Ellie’s husband George. And the girls are off. They must wade through a series of motives and alibis to try and save Ellie from becoming an only parent. Ms. Graves writes her tale with a nod to and within the classic “cozy” form. MALLETS AFORTHOUGHT is, however, a timeless and contemporary mystery.
Multiple suspects, engaging characters, a good plot and a sense of humor make this book a pleasure.
Ruth Jordan - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Ruth Jordan - RAM
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