Hess' Claire Malloy series is one of my favorites. This book, however, is among the lesser lights in the series. It's a little darker than (not quite as funny as) the rest of the books. Nevertheless, it's worth reading. It turns out that "Not quite as good as excellent" is still very good, so read the book if you're reading the series. If you're not yet reading this series, go back to the first one and start there. You'll really enjoy Claire, her looney teenage daughter who often speaks in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS as teenage girls are wont to do, and the rest of the crowd.
Hess' Claire Malloy series is one of my favorites. This book, however, is among the lesser lights in the series. It's a little darker than (not quite as funny as) the rest of the books. Nevertheless, it's worth reading. It turns out that "Not quite as good as excellent" is still very good, so read the book if you're reading the series. If you're not yet reading this series, go back to the first one and start there. You'll really enjoy Claire, her looney teenage daughter who often speaks in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS as teenage girls are wont to do, and the rest of the crowd.
Great light mystery author.
From Publishers Weekly: "With deep affection and a sure, light touch, Hess, author also of the Maggody series, portrays characters ranging from a heavy metal aficionado to a wildly eccentric Southern lady of a certain age in this thoroughly modern gothic tale. Bookstore owner/sleuth Claire Malloy, encountered most recently in Roll Over and Play Dead , finds little but trouble when she and teenage daughter Caron attend the 80th birthday celebration of Miss Justicia, mother of Claire's late husband, at the family manor in the Louisiana bayous. Feuding relatives, mysterious hints about inheritances and terrible food begin a ghastly first night that will also include the drowning of the matriarch after she is seen careening drunkenly about the garden in her powered wheelchair. Various family members, among them Claire's brother-in-law, his grasping children and a socialite cousin with designs on the family mansion, look for a missing will while striving to keep up appearances, as Claire tries to conduct what she is certain is a murder investigation. While at times Hess draws her characters too broadly, her well-paced and well-plotted stories still delight." Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Hess' Claire Malloy series is one of my favorites. This book, however, is among the lesser lights in the series. It's a little darker than (not quite as funny as) the rest of the books. Nevertheless, it's worth reading. It turns out that "Not quite as good as excellent" is still very good, so read the book if you're reading the series. If you're not yet reading this series, go back to the first one and start there. You'll really enjoy Claire, her looney teenage daughter who often speaks in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS as teenage girls are wont to do, and the rest of the crowd.
This wasn't one of her better ones. It's all about a stereotypical hated matriarch who is playing games (Not the fun kind) with her family members about her will. It winds up costing her her life. But Hess isn't very clear about who actually did it. There's plenty of motive. Even Claire's own daughter. But who did the deed is a bit confusing.
Homocide and humor do mix.
Theresa S. (homesteadneedlearts) - 
