Kathleen Taylor (1)

Funeral Food by Kathleen Taylor is the first in the Tory Bauer mystery series. Tory is short and round. She is a widow. She's a waitress. She lives in a trailer with a man-eater named Delphine and Delphine's son, Presley. (Delphine swears up and down that Elvis is his father.) Tory lives in that exciting hiccup in the road--Delphi, South Dakota.

Charles Winston is a young Mormon missionary who's been assigned to Delphi. He's handsome, soft-spoken, and generally well-liked amongst the show more townsfolk in Delphi even if they think his religion is crazy. When Tory finds his body stuffed in the mop closet at the café, she finds herself searching for a murderer.

I fell for this book in a big way. I like all sorts of mysteries and I have a twisted sense of humor, so I love it when I find a book that combines the two. (Especially since Evanovich has become rather stale.) Taylor uses the small town South Dakota setting to perfection. Anyone who's lived in a small town will recognize the cast of oddball characters. Tory herself is someone many women can identify with. There were several laugh-out-loud funny scenes *and* I didn't figure out who "Anti Santa" and the murderer were!

One warning for anyone thinking of reading Funeral Food: sex plays a part, and some of the humor is racy and adult. Not your typical cozy!

This book surprised me. It made me smile. It made me laugh. I closed it feeling as if I knew Tory and the other residents of Delphi. show less

Cold Front is the fifth Tory Bauer mystery. This time, it's New Year's Eve
in Delphi, South Dakota, and a blizzard is howling through the streets. Used
to the cold weather, the area residents still troop into the local watering
hole to ring in the New Year. Tory's friend and trailermate Del is
especially excited this year because the man who answered her personal ad in
the Sioux Falls paper is coming to town to help her celebrate. She's told
all the details so many times that everyone in Delphi is show more sick of hearing
them.

Ian, the man of Del's dreams, shows up and turns out to be quite the lady's
man. A few hours later, his body turns up frozen solid in the back of
Stewart McKee's pickup truck. Since Tory was in the cab of the truck when
the stiff was discovered, she has a personal interest in the outcome.

Theft, adultery, murder---who'da thunk stuff like this happens in small
towns? (People who've lived in one for starters. ) Another excellent
installment in what has turned out to be one of my favorite series---and I
only have one left! show less

This is the second in the Tory Bauer mystery series. Tory is a middle
aged, overweight waitress at the Delphi Cafe in Delphi, South Dakota, a
very plain spoken woman who seems to have developed the bad habit of
finding dead bodies. This time, she finds the body of a young carny
worker stuffed into the rafters of the Fun House at the carnival that's
come to town for Delphi Daze. Though the coroner declares the death to
be from natural causes, Tory just can't believe that an otherwise
healthy show more young blonde girl would climb up into those rafters and just
die. The carnival is full of suspicious characters and Tory is
determined to figure out which one of them "dunit." Full of returning
characters, this was an enjoyable book, but it wasn't quite as
satisfying as the first one was. I do like the way Tory thinks, though,
and will read more in this series. show less

Series: #6 Tory Bauer
Setting: present-day Delphi, South Dakota
Rating: A

It's still winter in Delphi, South Dakota, and an international choral group
is staying in town. All the young choir members decide to pig out at the
Delphi Café, and Tory and her staff have their hands full with the
rambunctious teenagers. The place is hopping and no one pays much attention
to the quiet young Swedish girl sitting in a booth by herself...until she
winds up face down in her food. To top it all off, she leaves show more behind a
suicide note accusing straight arrow Reverend Clay Deibert of molesting her.

Tory's been down Trust Boulevard a few times, but one thing she remains
certain of: there's no way, no how that Clay Deibert is guilty as charged.
She's going to prove it. Of course it doesn't help matters much when, in the
midst of her investigation, another body turns up stuffed into Clay's church
office closet. But...where there's a will there's a way.

This is, *very* lamentably, the last in the Tory Bauer series. I'll miss
these people. I really felt as if I knew each and every one of them. But as
I read the end of Foreign Body, I realized that Tory had come full circle.
Taylor meant for the series to end when it did. I sincerely hope that she's
busy writing a brand-new series full of wonderful characters! show less