Carolyn G. Hart

This is the first in a series of cozy mysteries featuring the owner of a bookstore specializing in mysteries. It's a bit dated now (this one was published in 1987), but I enjoyed some of the humor in it, as well as all the references to classic mysteries and mystery writers. I also had a hard time keeping track of all the characters, but I was listening to the audio which probably contributed to that. I'm not sure I'll seek out the second in the series, but I wouldn't kick it out of bed for show more eating crackers, either (i.e. if it falls into my lap at some point, I'd be happy to read it) :)

3.5 stars show less

4 stars.

Annie has inherited her uncle's mystery book shop and she loves it. She loves living where she lives and the community. What she doesn't love is an author hijacking her Sunday night author group to spill dirty details about their fellow authors, and she lets him know. When he ends up dead in her bookstore during said author meeting, Annie is unsettled. She wants nothing to do with the investigation, unlike Max, her kind of ex, but when she winds up under suspicion, Annie takes show more action.

I've read this several times, but not for many, many years. It's still enjoyable, and I remembered some of the plot. Max and Annie are such opposites, and Max is determined to convince Annie to take him seriously. I like that they come at the mystery from different angles. Although, Annie seemed a little naive in thinking that real people would react the same way as book characters. show less

“Star light, star bright . . . .”

When thirteen-year-old Katie Davenport makes a wish on a star, asking for help for her mom, it comes to the attention of Supervisor Wiggins in Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions. And he knows exactly who to send to help Deirdre Davenport: Bailey Ruth Raeburn, ghostly gumshoe extraordinaire . . . well, if you don’t count her tendency to contravene a few of those all-important Precepts whenever she’s dispatched to earth on a rescue mission.

Deirdre show more Davenport, currently attending a writers’ conference, is struggling to support her two children, and is hoping to land a faculty position in the Goddard College English department to end her financial woes. When Jay Knox, the professor in charge of the conference, turns up dead, suspicion falls on Deirdre and soon she is implicated in the murder of a second conference attendee, who just happens to be the only other person being considered for the position she hopes to fill at the college.

Bailey Ruth has her ethereal hands full trying to prove Deirdre’s innocence while tracking down the real culprit and doing everything possible to be an inspiring muse for Deirdre, who’s also suffering from a severe case of writer’s block . . . .

“Ghost to the Rescue,” the latest installment of the Bailey Ruth Ghost novels, is an amusing, delightful treasure filled with believable characters, droll humor, and a healthy dose of panache.
Will Bailey Ruth, in her inimitable fashion, find a way to complete her assignment and bring about a happy ending for Deirdre and her family before Wiggins demands she return from her earthly adventure?

Twists and turns weave their way through this well-constructed, engrossing plot. As time grows short for both Bailey Ruth and Deirdre, the suspense deepens in this top-notch mystery that will keep the pages turning and the readers guessing right up to the big reveal.

Highly recommended. show less

Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins (a/k/a Henrie O) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-reporter who no longer chases hot news around the globe, but still has the knack for ferretting out key information. This adventure is started when she received a call from an old friend whose granddaughter is missing. Henrie agrees to go to San Antonio to look for the girl. Iris is known to be impetuous and somewhat flighty, so Henrie is hoping that she’s just taken a weekend holiday at the beach and forgot to show more tell her grandmother. But once Henrie sees that Iris’s apartment has been searched – and not at all neatly – she fears the worst. When she inquires at the prestigious gallery specializing in exquisite (and expensive) Latin American art where Iris was employed, Henrie is met with a wall of silence and/or downright lies. How can she penetrate the defenses of the close-knit Garza family clan who runs the gallery and an attached bed & breakfast? What can she tell the police to interest them in Iris’s disappearance? How can she possibly tell her friend that her granddaughter has truly disappeared – perhaps forever? She uses all her skills as a reporter, and all her charms to finagle her way into the operation. The stakes are even higher after a murder happens in the gallery, and the police suspect the only person who cannot defend himself. There’s more to this story than a missing girl, and Henrie is determined to find out everything.

Hart does a great job of plotting this mystery, and of giving the reader a true sense of the city of San Antonio (my home town). I was caught up in the story quickly, and still able to enjoy the details of the art gallery business and of the city. I particularly liked that Henrie is her own woman. She’s smart, thinks on her feet, is a creative problem solver, and takes matters into her own hands rather than rely on a handy male to save her. Still, Hart writes her exploits consistent with her age and condition. She can’t go “mano a mano” with the bad guy, but she can verbally spar and use her intelligence to outwit or confuse or obfuscate. I think I’ve found a new mystery series heroine to follow. show less