Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death

Straight-laced librarian Miss Zukas is a bit of a dark horse. In addition to being a prim and proper librarian, she has a history as a canoeist. But her efforts to train for the big race and help the library's team beat the city planning department are interrupted. A dead man is found outside Miss Zukas's friend's house, and said friend Ruth becomes the prime suspect in the subsequent investigation. In her efforts to clear Ruth Miss Zukas finds herself in danger.

This is by all accounts an entertaining, quick read. Miss Zukas is starting to look a bit more human by this third book in the series. It's still not clear to me why all men in the general vicinity seem to have a crush on Helma Zukas- perhaps it's the stuffy/sexy librarian show more trope? Still, I suspect I'll be reading more in the series. These are fun books. show less

Once again Helma finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation. This time it's her good friend Ruth who is the prime suspect. In the meantime her co-worker Patricia suffers the loss of her beloved Binky and Helma is persuaded to join the Snow to Surf race. In between working at the library and training for the race, Helma tries to help Ruth clear her name. And of course she asks one to many questions and puts herself in danger. Helma accidentally finds out who the killer is, and when confronted the killer persuades her to keep the info quiet. She feels bad for the killer and shockingly agrees to it. Does Helma do the right thing by keepng her mouth shut or does it come around and bite her in the butt??? This is one book that was so show more well written the killer will come as a shock to all that read it! show less

I have read most of the books in this 12-book series, but somehow missed this one until now. So glad I found it because I enjoyed reconnecting with the endearing librarian Miss Helma Zukas and her flamboyant friend Ruth. Helma solves another murder mystery, this one while canoeing in a relay race for the Bellehaven Library.

This is the third in Dereske's series about Helma Zukas, a librarian in the Bellehaven, WA public library. I had read the first in the series years ago, and wasn't impressed enough to seek out the others. Now I have the opportunity to read them all. And now I remember why I wasn't that thrilled... Helma Zukas and I are about as opposite in personality as you can get, though we share a profession. She is so orderly she is almost obsessive, and often seems to use her dislike of disorder to insulate her from life. Then she'll do something unexpected that seems out of character. In this outing, and it is literally an outing, she is persuaded to be part of the Library's team in a major local sporting event. For her leg she will row a canoe show more 18 miles. In the meantime she is solving a murder and getting closer to the chief of police. show less

The mystery didn't do much for me, but I loved the passages about Helma and her canoe: they are evocative without being flowery or sentimental. I also liked seeing how she interacts with her colleagues at the library.

Eh, I liked this one well enough, but not over the top. I was surprised by the ending.

Nice tight mystery, fun characters, very enjoyable read.