Book Review: Death for Dessert

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Death for Dessert     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
T. Dawn Richards
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Senior Sleuths   Amateur Sleuth   Cozy
Series: May List Mysteries
Five Star, Oct 2003, $25.95, 204 pp.

Following her husband’s desertion her for a younger model after thirty-five years of marriage, May List moves into the Active Senior Living Apartment Complex. She almost immediately runs afoul of her weird new neighbor Mrs. Berkowitz over a typewriter. Still she settles in only to find the place boring except for her nosy neighbor who knows thins about her no one should know.

When she buys a computer, Mrs. Berkowitz shows her how to use it. May leaves the Berkowitz apartment only to realize she inadvertently took with her some disks belonging to her neighbor. These contain blackmailing information that apparently Mrs. Berkowitz uses to extort money from other seniors. May confronts the other seniors and learns that it is true so she goes to challenge Mrs. Berkowitz only to find the woman dead. Tampering with the crime scene and delaying the calling of the cops, May searches for the identity of a killer when everyone detested the victim.

Although Mrs. Berkowitz may come across as a lowlife with no redeeming qualities, readers will enjoy this amusing yet intriguing cozy because of her human insight and schemes. The audience will see an assisted living facility from the inside and though well kept, the tedium takes a toll on the residents. Though it is never clear how Mrs. B attains her data even if it is implied that the computer is her source especially to May, fans of amateur sleuth cozies will enjoy this senior citizen investigative tale.

Harriet Klausner

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