Elizabeth Atwood Taylor

A remarkably good book considering the lack of popularity or reviews on LibraryThing. The second book I've read recently where the heroine has gone through some bad experiences prior, apparently, to the start of the series. In this case, the death of her husband in a motorcycle accident sends her through various addictions, including alcohol, tobacco, and food. The minor characters, with their various weaknesses, are also quite interesting, and the plot hangs together neatly. I thought the show more final confrontation with the villain was a bit staged, like the author thought that every detective story had to end with a cliffhanger, but it's the only real weakness to a very nicely put-together story. I'll be looking for more by this author. show less

Maggie Elliott, newly established as a private investigator in San Francisco, returns to Vassar for her 15-year reunion, only to find an acquaintance accused of the murder of her vastly rich aunt. Hired because she is "one of us", she must sort out a web of greed and gile, deceit and danger. I enjoyed the story, which was well-plotted and has mostly engaging characters. The author isn't afraid to let her detective follow the wrong scent at times, which is a fairly intelligent attitude.

In a third outing, PI Maggie Elliott, recovering from a debilitating illness, is living in northern California, in the remote forest cabin left to her partner Richard O'Reagan by his Aunt Bessie. She arrives two days after a young hiker was murdered and mutilated, and his girl companion raped and nearly killed as well. Maggie discovers she knows the girl, Sally, daughter of her old friend Hallie Stephens. Sally will be at risk as long as the killer is loose, and Maggie promises her mother show more that she'll try to find the culprit. The lonely mountain-trail site of the murder has a surprising number of frequenters, all possible suspects. By the time Maggie succeeds in getting a wrongly accused Karuk Tribe member off the hook and brings the real villain into the open, there will have been more murders and a further attempt on Sally's life. Full of Indian and gold-mining lore, a new love affair for Maggie with Native American environmentalist Jim Pepper, NORTHWEST MURDERS provides an interesting read. show less

When her half-sister is killed in a gruesome cable car accident, Maggie Elliott must shrug off her own demons and contend with a murderer of diabolical cruelty and cunning. I liked this because it went in several unexpected directions.