I.O.U.

For a mystery novelist, Pickard is very strange. Her books don't have lot of whodunnit?! plot - but the character of her protagonist is central to the stories - especially this one, which features absolutely no murder at all.
Out of all the mystery novels from all the authors my mother brought home, Nancy Pickard was my favorite, and this my favorite book of hers. Re-reading the series as an adult impresses me even more. Most serial mysteries are (let's face it) feature thinly drawn characters thrown into improbable situations over and over and over again. They're easy to read and presumably easy to write, and that's all part of the enjoyment. They aren't there to be taken Seriously. Pickard takes this cheap potboiler form and makes it show more ... worthwhile. show less

I have read many of Nancy Pickard's cozies and remember that I really liked her writing style, never got bored or lost. I had I.O.U on my to be read since 1991.

This particular book centers not on an investing a murder but her mother's death and her father's loss of a business that been in the family for generations. Jenny Cain displays an overload of emotional reactions to people's statements and actions. This does not happen in most cozies!. I struggled to get through the first three chapters. I almost stopped reading! But later in the book, her therapist who was also a close childhood friend advised that she was not crazy and that what she needed to do was to investigate what was bothering her as if it was and actual case. That calmed show more both her and the book down. Hooray!

Not being close to her father was her father's long lasting affair that resulted in marrying a woman only a few years older than her. Her step mother was voluptous, always had a irritating, calming positive attitude. Her sister had a bad effect on her too, there was a time that they actually came to blows.

I enjoyed her investigation of her mother's life and the downfall her father's business downfall. There are times that you think that the evil doer has been found but there you find out that there are more people connected with the bad results. The investigation leads to complex situations.

I really enjoyed this mystery and hope to read many more of her books. show less

Not as good as the earlier Jenny Cain books but having read them in order it's a relief that her mother has been released, or at least that Jenny has been released from torturing herself over her mother & the failed family firm. Jenny got a rough deal in the parent stakes. That father of hers needs a good shaking. More a family history than a murder mystery. And as for that mongrel priest - we can only hope there are special places of torture for his sort.

cover:
It was foggy the day of the funeral... white swirling mists that matched the thick fog of pain and confusion in Jenny's brain. Jenny's mother was dead, carried away by pneumonia after years in the Hampshire Psychiatric Hospital. As friends and family pressed round to offer show more condolences, a hand clutched Jenny's arm, an anonymous voice whispered, "Forgive me. It was an accident...." Jenny had no idea what it meant. And it didn't seem to matter. Nothing seemed to matter except her grief and her guilt, and the haunting questions that made her fear for her own sanity: What had really been wrong with her mother? How did it happen? And how was it all connected with the bankruptcy of the family business, a disaster her father had never been able to explain? When Jenny tried to find out, she was met with a stone wall of polite silence. But there was nothing polite about whoever shut the garage door when poor, exhausted Jenny fell asleep with the car's motor running... show less

Jenny Crain, Exec Director of a non-profit in her small town is dealing with her mother's death, trying to uncover the real reason mom spent years in a mental institution. As she asks questions, she becomes more and more puzzled about the reactions she gets from townspeople, including the members of her own board. Several incidents cause her to fear that someone is out to do her physical harm. Discouraged by her sister from further searching, but egged on by her friend - who happens to be her psychiatrist, and encouraged by her husband- who happens to be a police detective, she works to uncover the mystery of why her mother became ill, and why no one wants to talk about it. The inter-family dynamics, particularly with her no-good father show more and his second wife, make it particularly interesting. Definitely worth going back to read some of the previous ones in the series (this is #7) show less

Far different from her other works as she's not investigating a murder, but rather is examining her "roots" and her mother's insanity while questioning her own. Psychologically, it's a really find read.