176 pages
From Publishers Weekly:
Wealthy local Andrew Trent, notorious for practical jokes that have far exceeded short-sheeted beds and whoopee cushions, has summoned his would-be heirs to his northern mansion with the false announcement that he has only a short time left to live. Braving the Highlands winter are his adopted son and his TV-star fiancee, two spinster daughters, his brother (with his brittle wife) and his scientist stepson (with his punk, pink-haired girlfriend and colleague). After Andrew is murdered in a prank that backfires, Macbeth wends his way through a tangle of family squabbles and secrets. Another murder and an attempt on a third victim follow in this readable tale that doesn't, however, bear close scrutiny. Illogic abounds and the final confession is precipitated by a wild coincidence.
This book has all the classic mystery elements: numerous suspects snowbound in a big mansion, red herrings, and a gathering of the suspects in the drawing room for the solution to be given by the featured sleuth.
Most Amazon reviewers gave this book low ratings, but I rather liked it. In fact, I'd say this might be my favorite Hamish MacBeth novel I've read yet.
214 pages
From Publisher's Weekly While on a late-night jog in tiny Shakespeare, Ark., Lily Bard, 31, sees a furtive figure placing large plastic garbage bags in the local park and, untying one, discovers the body of her former landlord. In a quick but anonymous phone call (she is determined to avoid any questioning), she reports it to the police chief. With skill and wry wit, Harris, the author of the Aurora Teagarden series, soon reveals the horrific facts in Lily's background that explain why she is solitary, confrontational, obsessed with self-defense—and why she chooses, despite a first-rate education, to eke out a living as a cleaning woman. Realizing, however, that her fingerprints on the body of the dead man might make her a suspect, Lily subtly and insightfully queries her customers, some of them tenants of the murdered landlord, in the process meticulously evaluating their closets, drawers and motives. The renters are a well-defined lot: a happily promiscuous idler; a sanctimonious and hypocritical reverend; and an aging couple with much to grieve about. As Lily investigates, she develops a wary but cordial relationship with the police chief and forms a warmer tie with her karate instructor. But at the same time, someone has discovered the unspeakable facts about Lily's past and has begun stalking her.
I didn't really like this book. It wasn't very suspenseful and I couldn't connect with the characters. I found that I didn't really care to find out who the murderer was. I made myself finish reading it. After all, I had bought the book with my swagbucks gift card. ;-)
I don't think I will be reading more in this series any time soon.
2010 total: 14
Thriller & Suspense challenge: 7
currently reading: The Last Time I Saw You- Elizabeth Berg
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