Book Review: The Goodbye Body

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

The Goodbye Body     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Joan Hess
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Cozy   Woman Main Character
Series: Claire Molloy # 15
St. Martin’s Minotaur; $34.95 hardcover; 291 pages

It all began because of a rat. Claire Malloy, bookstore owner and sometime sleuth, spotted a rat and called her landlord, who called the exterminators. Now she’s stuck for a place to stay for 2 weeks while Mr. Kalker renovates her apartment. Luckily, Dolly Goforth, a rich widow who has recently arrived in Farberville, offers Claire and her daughter Caron the use of her mansion while she visits her invalid sister in Dallas. After some hesitation, Claire accepts.

No sooner are Claire, Caron, and Caron’s friend Inez settled in Dolly’s house than a corpse turns up in the garden, behind the gazebo. Then it disappears, only to reappear a day later on the lounge by the pool. And strange people keep visiting, asking after Dolly. Claire’s certain something fishy is going on, and it’s got nothing to do with the koi in the ornamental pond. Despite warnings from her lover Peter, a lieutenant with the local police department, she starts asking questions of her own. Is Dolly really a widow from Chicago? Who are Madison Hayes and Sara Louise Santini? And will Caron and Inez tango for the judges of the talent contest?

The Goodbye Body is a nice cosy mystery. Hess has a sharp wit, and she employs it with alacrity. Her characters could be your next-door neighbours—if, that is, your next-door neighbours happen to solve mysteries in their spare time. Claire struggles with her budget and her teenage daughter (whose comments are Frequently Capitalized to make sure You Don’t Miss the Sarcasm), as well as her feelings for Peter. On the basis of this one book, I’d recommend the rest of Hess’s work.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM