A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #22 - The Final Fair

Everyone's favorite nurse-turned-sleuth (and, no, I'm not talking about Cherry Ames!) returns for her sixth Zebra Mystery Puzzler.  Author Marcia Blair (in reality, Marc Baker) brings back Victoria "Tory" Baxter for another murder mystery - only, for the first time, the murder is not in any way connected to a patient for whom Tory is caring.  And that is not the only unusual thing about this book - there are a couple of other "firsts" in this one.  Oh, and this book also sports the misnumbered titles in both the front listing and the order from at the back of the book.  I'm guessing since books 21, 22, 23, and 24 were published simultaneously, they all contain the same errors in the listings.  When I read the next two books in the series, I suppose I'll find out whether that holds true.

 

The Final Fair does open pretty much the same way as all of the other Tory Baxter books in this series - the murder takes place right there in the opening pages. Which means, the reader has absolutely no opportunity to meet any of the characters prior to the killing, and therefore, we know nothing about anyone as the story progresses.  That honestly is okay with me.  I think it adds a certain nuance to the story, because the readers goes into it without any preconceived notions about any of the characters that the author may have inadvertently put into them.  In this instance, Tory and her coworker, Dr. Sandy Brockman (oh, he of the flashy red hair!), are attending a renaissance faire, all decked out in costume, when she hears a scream.  Before you know it, a jester gets up on stage and asks if there is a doctor in the house (and, of course, there is - literally).  Tory and Sandy follow the costumed clown to where a man is lying on his back with a knife protruding from his chest.  The dead man is Dr. Michael Peters, another resident at the hospital where Sandy works.  And the knife in his chest belongs to none other than his date, Nurse Leanne Davis, a women who Terry generally knows.  She claims someone took the knife and did this - but, as it turns out, only her fingerprints are on the hilt of the knife.  So, if she did not do it, then who did?  And how?

 

This is quite the challenging mystery, I will admit. There are not a tremendous amount of suspects.  There is Leanne, obviously, who was being blackmailed by Dr. Peters into marrying him.  There is also Leanne's father, who has been the one shelling out the money to protect his daughter's reputation.  And then there is Dr. Jeremy Jones, a married doctor with whom Leanne was once having an affair - an affair that Dr. Peters walked in on by accident and then used that "accident" as a means to get money.  And we must not forget Dr. Peters wife, who is so obsessed with social climbing, she stares daggers at any woman who comes in contact with her husband.  All of them have motive for killing Dr. Peters, but not all of them have the opportunity.  Dr. Jones and his wife happened to be out of town the weekend of the renaissance fair.  And oddly enough, Leanne's father does not even make the suspect list for the police.  So, was it Leanne?

 

Well, when Leanne turns up dead of an apparent suicide (complete with a typed-up, but unsigned suicide note right beside the empty pill bottle), the police think the matter is all wrapped up.  Tory is not so sure.  She is convinced Leanne was innocent, and for her, the girl's death only proves it.  She keeps looking into it, and suddenly she finds her own life in jeopardy, as she is nearly run down by a racing car and almost pushed into the path of an oncoming train!  Just when she has convinced her friend, Lieutenant Jay Thorpe, that the case may not be so clear cut, another body turns up.  With another typed suicide note.  Jay is convinced now that it really is all over, and he warns Tory to let it go.  Of course, anyone who knows Tory Baxter knows she is like a dog with a bone - she will NEVER let it go.  Not until the real murderer is caught.  Only this time, the murderer catches up to her in a dark parking lot with no one else around.  It makes one wonder just how she is going to survive this one...

 

As mentioned above, this book features several "firsts."  Not only is it the first Tory Baxter story to not have Tory taking care of someone, it is also the first Zebra Mystery Puzzler to NOT feature the title character on the cover.  This cover art, by none other than Sanford Hoffman, who has provided internal illustrations for a number of the books in this series (including this one), features the scene of Leanne having the knife taken from her by the masked man in the dark colored robe.  Hoffman even gets the minor detail right about the hint of blond sideburns peeking out from under the hood of the monk!   While Leanne is prominent, front and center, on the cover, our sleuthing nurse, Tory Baxter, is nowhere to be seen!  (Something else of note about the cover is that one the white car in the background, there appear to be some words written in red along the side of the car; however, I am unable to make it what they say, even when I try to enlarge the image. I would be curious to know what words the artist tried to sneak on to that cover!)

 

Another "first" for this series deals with one of the internal illustrations.  In all of the prior books, all of the illustrations have been included in the story before that final sealed chapter. Not so in this book.  The last illustration can be found on page 197, four pages into the last chapter!  And what is odd about it is that it holds absolutely no clues to the murder mystery at all - it merely shows the backside of Tory as she makes her way to her car in the dark parking lot (see above illustration depicting the scene just before the killer comes up behind her with a gun!).  I'm not sure why the publisher elected to have an illustration done from the last chapter, instead of adding another one to the main story, which might have provided another clue to the identity of the killer.  Which would have been helpful, as quite frankly, only one of the illustrations from the story had any sort of clue that would direct the reader to the killer.

 

Despite the lack of illustration clues, there were enough in the story to lead you to the killer - although, I will admit, there was some misleading ones as well, which took me in one direction, before I caught on the other ones.  I think I figured it out just before Tory did in the story - meaning Baker a/k/a Blair did a pretty good job keeping me guessing.  One big plus for this story is that Tory and Jay's relationship got pushed a bit further along, particularly right there at the end when Jay accidentally blurts out some things he never intended to say out loud, leaving him all flustered before he storms off - and leaving Aunt Tildy with a great big smile!

 

The author makes reference to Toll House cookies in the story (p. 20), which I found surprising, as these type of books usually avoid name brand references.  I could not even recall if Toll House cookies were popular back then, but apparently they have been around since 1938, so by the 1970s, they would be pretty well known.  The author also references the Cow Palace, which I first mistook for the name of a steak restaurant from back in the day when I lived in Kentucky (their slogan was "take ol' Alice to the Cow Palace!"); however, it is actually an historic exhibition hall where they host a "Dickens Fair" annually.  In the story, Aunt Tildy takes Tory to see the Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace, making it another non-fictional reference in the book.  As I've noted before, these type of references to real places and things ground the story, to keep it a bit more "real" for the reader.

 

Another good one is a series of good mysteries!

 

RATING:  9 enormous pieces of apple pie out of 10 for keeping the mystery challenging and the friction between Tory and Jay even more challenging!