A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #25 - You'll Be The Death of Me

It's been ten books since the first of Miriam Lynch's entries into this series, and now I've reached the second (and final) offering by Lynch.  This book was a far cry better than her first Zebra mystery, so either she honed her mystery-writing skills between the time she wrote Time to Kill and this one, or that first book was merely a fluke (since online reviewers all seem to have nothing but praise to sing for Lynch's writing).  Either way, I found this book to be much more engaging, with a well-plotted mystery and plenty of misdirect and red herrings!

 

You'll Be The Death of Me takes small-town reporter Nell Willard  to the Belltown High School twenty-year class reunion, where long-time teacher Sarah Plunkett is being honored as she retires after years of service and Nell is there to cover the story.  Love her or hate her, everyone agrees that Mrs. Plunkett was strict, but she loved her students and only wanted to see them succeed.  But as the retiree prepares to give her speech, she suddenly collapses over the front table, dead!  Needless to say, Nell has an eyewitness account of the tragic event, and when it comes out the teacher was poisoned, Nell knows it's a mystery she must solve.  Police lieutenant Gerold Holbrow, Nell's somewhat boyfriend, is on the case, and although he warns her to stay out of the investigation, she cannot help herself.  After all, the woman had once been her teacher, and for the life of her, Nell cannot understand who would have reason to kill her.

 

Lynch gives readers a number of suspects, all with secrets and possible motives.  First, there is the chairperson of the reunion, Marion Hallison.  The woman is a mystery herself, with no known background, no photographs, and no friends.  Who is she, and how did she land the position of planning such an important event?  As Nell digs into her past, she learns that Marion may be holding a very fierce grudge against the teacher - but is it one that would give her cause to kill her?  Second, there are Stuart and Samuel Corbett, twins who served as co-presidents their senior year of high school, and who married the Bisbee twins (Grace and Gertrude).  The two couples became recluses after their marriages, and moreso after Samuel's wife died.  What secret did Sarah Plunkett uncover about the twins, and was it worth killing her?  Third, there is Suzanne Dixon, the beautiful young wife, married to the richest man in town (a man who could not bother to show up at the reunion, perhaps because he was too drunk!).  Why has she been making early morning visits to a local doctor, and what secret would make her want to leave her husband?  Finally, there is Dr. Harmon Gregory, one of the more successful members of the class, whose sole concern seems to be to care for his sickly wife, who also acts as his nurse at his office.  Is he having an affair with Suzanne Dixon, and if so, how would that justify killing a retiring teacher?

 

The mystery is definitely a puzzling one, and I admit, it had me stumped up until the very final chapter.  All of the suspects had dark secrets, but only one of them had a real motive for murder.  It is when an attempt to commit a second murder takes place (and the big clue is in that final internal illustration) that the killer's identity is finally revealed - and the motive is not all what you suspect.  It certainly took me by surprise, but it definitely made sense looking back at everything else Nell learns throughout the book. 

 

The cover art is provided by Mel Greifinger, who has provided the art on three prior Zebra Mystery Puzzlers. I love his work, as his visuals are stunning.  Sadly, I could not find any real clue on the cover (unless it is simply supposed to be the glass in front of her, which was poisoned.  The internal illustrations are drawn by Sanford Hoffman, marking his fifth book in the series.  As with all of his prior illustrations, he always outlines his scene, and he often has one part of the scene break through that outline (such as in the one to the right, where the gun is raised, breaking through the line).  This scene strikes me as odd, though, as the story indicates the person comes up behind Nell and strikes her on the head.  The object that strikes her is not mentioned, and it is not until later in the story we find out it was a gun - so to have it displayed so vividly here sort of gives away something (unless this picture on page 75 is meant to connect to the illustration on page 159; yet, the guns in each drawing appear different!).  I also find the gun and hand to be very out of proportion to the scene, since, if the person is behind Nell, wouldn't the perspective mean the hand and gun should be smaller?  Yet, in the drawing, they are considerably larger! Oh, well, I suppose that's just me being nit-picky!

 

This is definitely on my list of the top Zebra Mystery Puzzlers.  Loved the mystery, loved the characters, and loved the resolution.  It's just a shame this was the last offering by Miriam Lynch, meaning no more reporter Nell Willard solving murder mysteries...

 

RATING:  9 bottles of Silver Mist hair coloring out of 10 for a crafty, puzzling mystery that really does keep you guessing up until the end! 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #23 - Death in a Small World

Another new protagonist and another new author enters the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series with this book.  The 23rd book in the series is the first written by Laura Colburn, being followed up by books 34 and 46.  Colburn, in reality, is Ian McMahan, an award-winning author  and developmental psychologist who under his own name wrote a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the three-book Microkid Mysteries and the one ESP McGee mystery for young readers back in the early 1980s.  I was not really sure what to expect from this book, considering the author's background (but, as one might expect, it turns out one of the characters in the book is a psychologist, which provides the author with an opportunity to include his profession into the story).  However, after a bit of a slow start, the book actually turned out to be surprisingly good.

 

Death in a Small World does not refer to a ride at Disney World, but rather, to just how small our world really is when it comes to running into people from our past in the most unexpected places.  What's the old expression about being in the right place at the right time?  Only, in this case, it's about someone being in the wrong place at most definitely the wrong time.  Our amateur sleuth in this book is Carol Gates, an artist and illustrator who is a part of the '70s bohemian movement in the Soho district of New York City. She happens to be at a party thrown by two of her friends, which is attended by a number of aspiring artists, several art dealers, and a few other miscellaneous people - including Steve McCullough, a stranger known only to the hosts (or so everyone thought!), who Carol finds dead in the elevator shaft clutching a gold lighter.  Was it an accident, as the police believe?  Or was it suicide, as Carol's friend Ginny firmly thinks?  Or was it cold-blooded murder, as Carol is sure it is?  Since the police are not investigating, and no one is really questioning it, Carol takes it upon herself to find out the truth - after all, being the daughter of a retired police chief, she has an inquisitive mind and an eidetic memory, so who better to solve a murder no one believes was a murder?

 

Colburn (a/k/a McMahan) does not open the story with his main character as most of the book do; rather, he opens it with his two main suspects - Angelo and Ginny Politano, an art-loving couple who are getting ready to host a very important party for their bohemian friends.  However, news of Steve McCullough's arrival causes a massive disruption in their plans, because it seems Ginny has a hidden past with Steve, and when Angelo finds out what it is, he becomes very unlike himself.  But, the party must go on, and so it does - until Carol is ready to leave and along with a fellow guest, Bob Fletcher (manager of several local buildings, including the one in which Carol lives), they wait for the elevator to arrive.  When it does, though, it bears an unexpected surprise - the body of Steve McCullough.  Carol knows there is something off - but her roommate doesn't believe her.  Her own boyfriend doesn't believe her.  Angelo and Ginny do not believe her.  Even Steve's best friend from the army who comes to town to claim the body does not believe her.  Despite all of this, Carol knows she is right, and she begins investigating, questioning everyone she can find from the party to find out what discussions they had with this stranger that no one (except Angelo and Ginny) knew.

 

The story then follows Carol as she starts questioning everyone. Angelo and Ginny know very little about Steve, other than his past affair with Ginny.  From attorney Robert Silverman, she learns about Steve's interest in Nazis who absconded with valuable art from Germany after the war.  From Steve's best friend, Arnie, she learns about his obsession with finding one particular Nazi by the name of Hans Bruckner who disappeared after the war.  From two different art dealers, she learns just how important that stolen art might be worth and what it cost people to escape from Germany after the war.  From Bob Fletcher, the building manager who knows some art dealers, she learns that both of the art dealers have something to hide.  From Steve's own attorney, Theodore Hornby, who is handling his estate, she learns not only a lot more about Steve's past, but also that his will leaves quite a large sum of money to his former lover - Ginny Politano!  The more Carol learns, the more questions there are, and the more suspects there appear to be.  When another guest from the party turns up dead from yet another apparent accident, and when two attempts are made on Carol's life, she knows she is getting closer to the truth. With nothing else to do, and with the help of her boyfriend, Carol sets up a trap to trick the killer in to revealing himself - the only problem is, the killer turns the tables on Carol, and she is the one tricked!

 

While I was not able to get into the story at first, it quickly shifted gears and the more information Carol (and I!) learned about Steve and the possible motives and suspects, the more interested I became in the mystery.  Every time I thought I had an idea of who did it, a monkey wrench got thrown into the works, and suddenly I changed my mind and went with another suspect (however, I should always trust my first instinct, because the person my gut first told me was the killer did turn out to be the culprit!).  I have to give Colburn (a/k/a McMahan) credit for crafting a well-written mystery.

The cover art, which depicts the scene where Carol finds Steve's body in the elevator, is painted by Mel Greifinger, the same artist who provided covers for The Curse of the Golden Skull and The Final Appointment.  None of the interior illustrations identifies the artist, but the shading and drawings seem similar to some of the other books in the series, so it was likely someone who Kensington Publishing Corp. used on a fairly regular basis.  The illustrations do not, in and of themselves, point to any specific clues, but rather, they merely depict scenes that are important to the story and moments at which Carol learns (or should have learned - such as the fact that one of the suspects, who turns out to be the killer, is left handed - it's a subtle sort of thing, but it's there if you notice it) something that would ultimately lead her to the solution to this mystery.

By the end of the book, I found I rather like Carol Gates, and I'm happy to know that I'll get two more adventures with her before this series ends!

RATING:  9 heavy attache cases out of 10 for a creative plot that works overtime to mislead the reader, taking you in one direction, when the truth lies in an entirely different area!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #17 - The Final Appointment

For whatever reason, Kensington Publishing Corp. decided to publish two Marcia Blair (a/k/a Marc Baker) mysteries right in a row.  Book 16, The Final Guest, was published in January 1979, while this book, Book 17 in the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series, was published one month later in February 1979.  While Jan Michaels had two books published somewhat close together (books 12 and 14 were Michaels' two Darby Castle mysteries), this is the first time (and I believe the only time) an author had two books in a row published in this series.  Not sure the reasoning, but it gave fans of the series an opportunity to read two Tory Baxter murder mysteries one after another!

 

The Final Appointment finds our young nurse detective actually being sought out and asked to help solve a case.  The book begins with Tory being followed by someone - and being the intuitive young sleuth that she is, she quickly outwits the woman and confronts her, only to learn that Dina Severson needs her help.  Dina and her two best friends, Felicia Adams and Candice Jeffers, believe they are in danger.  Someone has been entering Felicia's apartment and moving things around. Nothing is stolen, but paintings are turned upside down, vases are placed in the middle of the room.  Despite the locks being changed several times, the culprit continues to get in.  Now the matter has escalated, as Felicia has received a photograph of the three girls - with Felicia's face marked out with a big "X"!  It seems Candice knows Tory's Aunt Tildy, and Tildy told them about Tory's sleuthing abilities, so they sought her out to help them.

 

The mystery becomes more dangerous than Tory expects when Felicia turns up dead, found at the bottom of the stairs in the girls' apartment complex.  Tory's police friend, Lieutenant Jay Thorpe, rules it out as an accident, but Tory is not convinced.  Especially when they find Felicia's key ring with an added bonus: a small golden charm of a monkey with its hands covering its mouth.  Dina and Candice swear that Felicia never had such a charm. Plus, with Felicia out of the picture (no pun intended), it seems Candice is next on the list - her apartment is vandalized, this time with a warning about the her time in Paris with Felicia.  Candice swears nothing happened on their trip, but Tory has to wonder if they did not inadvertently offend some psycho who is now exacting his (or her) revenge.  Before you know it, Candice turns up dead, and Dina is afraid she is next!

 

The suspects include Felicia's boyfriend, who turns out to be related to someone accused of embezzling funds from the financial firm owned jointly by the girls' fathers.  There is also the mysterious blond haired woman who was seen putting envelopes into the girls' mailboxes at the apartment complex, as well as having purchased golden monkey charms from a dealer in San Francisco.  Then there is the Paris connection between the two victims, which seems out of place, since Dina did not go to Paris - so why would the killer target her?  Does everything tie back to their fathers' financial firm and the problems that occurred decades ago?  Or is the motive something much darker and more sinister?

 

Blair (Baker) tries to craft a great whodunnit, but, unfortunately, the identity of the killer is pretty easy to spot from the very beginning.  There are plenty of red herrings thrown out there, even though they are woven in for purposes of making the reader think this is the real trail of the killer.  I was a bit disappointed in that aspect, as the previous mysteries in this series written by Blair (Baker) were actually pretty well plotted.  That being said, I did enjoy the further developments with Tory's friendship with Dr. Sandy Brockman and her love/hate relationship with Lt. Jay Thorpe.  I feel bad for poor Sandy, who seems to always get the raw end of the deal, but at least Jay steps up by the end of this book to let Tory know once and for all exactly how he feels - it sure took long enough!

 

The cover art for this book is provided by Mel Greifinger, who also did the art on the cover of  The Curse of the Golden Skull, which was a Terry Spring mystery by Josephine Kains (a/k/a Joseph Goulart).  Rather than a particular scene from the book, we get a collage of Tory, the three girls, the son of the embezzler, and one of the girls putting on make-up.  I find it somewhat amusing that all of these Tory Baxter covers show Tory in her nurse's outfit, but share rarely, if ever, actually wears such an outfit in the books.  And speaking of inconsistencies in the artwork (yeah, so that was a pretty bad segue, but whatever!), the internals in this book have some glaring mistakes in them.  The first internal illustration, on page 21, shows Tory holding the picture while sitting in front of the three girls - Dina, Felicia, and Candice (see above).  However, in the story, Tory has come racing over to Dina's apartment because Felicia is missing - and in the particular scene depicted, Tory is talking only to Dina and Candice.  Felicia is not in the scene at all!  It leaves you to wonder just what kind of information are the internal illustrators given when they are told what scenes to draw!

 

Now, the third internal illustration, found on page 59, shows a woman who I can only assume is Tory (her appearance is never consistent in these internals) looking at a woman's hand that is holding up a key ring that displays the small monkey charm, with its hands cover its eyes ("see no evil").  The only problem with this one is that in the story, the "little figure was beautifully done and tiny hands were over its mouth" (p. 58).  That is a pretty glaring error, particularly when these monkey charms are supposed to be a clue to the killer's identity!  Again, what information was given to these illustrators for the scenes they were to draw?  Aside from that error, though, I will say that Tory (if that is her) in this scene bears a striking resemblance to the Rudy Nappi version of Nancy Drew that graced the covers of the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories in the 1960s and 1970s - similar hair style, facial expression, etc.  Perhaps the role of Tory Baxter was temporarily being placed by Nancy Drew (yeah, okay, probably not, but it is a funny coincidence).

 

While by far not the best mystery in the series, I cannot say it was a bad read.  With any luck, this was just a one-off for Blair (Baker), and the later mysteries featuring Tory Baxter will be a little bit more difficult to solve!

 

RATING:   7 wild blond mops of hair out of 10 for FINALLY moving Tory and Jay's relationship forward, which turns out to be the highlight of this book!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #7 - The Curse of the Golden Skull

And so we come to the second Zebra Mystery Puzzler written by Ronald Joseph Goulart under the pen name Josephine Kains.  And again, I absolutely love the title, so reminiscent of those Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys' titles of yesteryear.  Plus, with the return of Goulart/Kains comes the return of that intrepid reporter, Terry Spring, and her wonderful producer, Jess Berkeley, as well as her always-hungry, girl-loving cameraman, Chavez.  These three make a fantastic detective trio, and their adventures are so much fun to read.

The Curse of the Golden Skull takes our threesome on a cruise to the Caribbean islands, where they are sent to cover a unique Voodoo Cruise for the news channel for which Terry works.  It seems like a great opportunity to mix a little pleasure with business, especially when Chavez meets a beautiful young woman, Claire Traynor.  But he will have to get past her overbearing aunt and their devoted housekeeper if he has any hopes of spending time with her.  Of course, his chances become greater when the Traynors' housekeeper is found dead in her cabin, apparently beaten to death with a cane ... a cane that looks suspiciously like that of an elderly, veiled woman that everyone had seen on the cruise when it first set sail!  Thus, it looks like the cruise will be making an extended stop at Sombra Island, the very island where Claire is headed to take ownership of the castle she has inherited from her recently deceased uncle - a castle that comes with stories of a hidden pirate treasure and a cursed skull!

There's definitely plenty of mystery in this book, and Terry, Jess, and Chavez are all right there in this thick of it.  Terry's involvement begins on the cruise when she saves Claire from an attempt on her life as a dark figure attempts to push her overboard in the dead of night - the very same night her housekeeper is murdered.  The question is, who killed the housekeeper and why?  And who was the veiled woman who bought a one way ticket to Sombra Island and where did she disappear to in the middle of the ocean?  And how is the housekeeper's murder connected with the attempt on Claire's life - or is it?  And will Chavez ever be able to convinced Claire's aunt to let him spend even five minutes alone with the woman?  These and more questions will fill your mind as you read this mystery.

Now, I will admit, this one is a fairly simple mystery to solve.  Well, at least part of it is.  The identity of the murderer is pretty obvious from the beginning, and there is a blatant clue glaring at the reader on the cover and second internal illustration on page 33 that pretty much gives it away.  However, that does not make the story any less enjoyable to read.  Goulart manages to throw in an over-zealous magician who catches Jess's eye, a less than honest tour guide who has ulterior motives for stopping at Sombra Island, and a potentially dangerous ex-boyfriend that keeps pushing his way into Claire's life.  We also get a dark castle on a stormy night - what better setting for a mystery to play itself out!  Add in a gold skull that holds the key to finding a centuries-old treasure, a coded message that will lead the one who solves it to the treasure, and a hidden room in an underground vault that reveals a (not-so) surprising secret about Claire's past that answers a question about her father's murder so many years ago.

The internal illustrations are beautiful, much more so than that last couple of books.  The artist is actually identified in one of the illustrations (p. 158) as Luke Ryan - which is the name of the illustrator who did the internals for the second book in this series (The Final Ring).  Not sure if Kensington (Zebra) had a group of artists in house, or if they farmed the work out, but they really should have used Ryan's art for all of the books in this series!  It is outstanding.  Probably my favorite of all Ryan's illustrations in this book, though, is found on page 114, which features a man Chavez and Jess believe to be a zombie - and that zombie bears an uncanny resemblance to actor Lon Cheney Jr as the wolfman!  No fooling - if you don't believe me, go Google the actor and his role and then compare it to this image.  You'll see I'm telling the truth.

 

The cover art is provided by Mel Greifinger, who went to high school at The School of Art & Design in New York.  After serving in the Navy, Greifinger began freelancing as a full-time illustrator at the age of 28, doing cover illustrations for various paperback and hardback books.

Seven books into this series, and I definitely know now why I enjoyed these so much back as a kid.  The stories are fast-paced, the mysteries are enjoyable, and the recurring sleuths give them a feeling of continuity.  While it seems most of the authors are men writing under female pseudonyms, I give them credit for creating well-rounded, female protagonists who I really like reading, and who I can't wait to read their next adventures.

RATING:  9 yellow pearlized hatpins out of 10 for a near-gothic style mystery of dark castles, hidden rooms, buried treasures, cursed skulls, and voodoo magic!