Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Crime & Punctuation (Deadly Edits)

Crime & Punctuation (Deadly Edits)
cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2309 more book reviews


Readers of Kaitlyn Dunnett's first Deadly Edits cozy mystery may learn quite a few helpful tips about proper English usage, but they're also going to read an engaging story featuring a main character they're going to love. Mikki Lincoln is sixty-eight years old, wears hearing aids, and knows all about the Oxford comma. Until his death, Mikki's husband was the center of her world, but now Calpurnia the cat is the only other living soul in the childhood home that she's busy fixing up. Mikki realizes that she has to relearn how to make friends, but she has already found one: Darlene, a former head librarian who had to take early retirement due to her crippling arthritis. Her mobility has been affected so much that she gets around on a combination of walker, electric scooter, and wheelchair.

Mikki and Darlene prove that you don't have to be perky, toned, hunk-on-the-brain twentysomethings to solve crimes, and that's good news for many readers amongst us. Both of them are intelligent, honest, and filled with common sense. (I also love Darlene's way with her electric scooter.)

I have to admit that learning the differences between copyediting, line editing, and developmental editing was fascinating, and so was the fact that the author brought in the area's ties to Murder, Inc. as part of the mystery. Actually, the only thing I didn't like about this delightful book is the fact that Dunnett seemed to telegraph the identity of the killer. But... with so many other things-- and characters-- to enjoy, it really didn't matter all that much. In fact, I'm looking forward to my next visit with Mikki and Darlene. (Never underestimate the power of two "old" women!)