Deadly Advice

Dr. Rebecca Butterman is used to helping people - she's a clinical psychologist and the author of an on-line advice column, so when Madeline, her next door neighbor is found dead from an apparent suicide, Rebecca wonders if she could have done something to help her. When Madeline's mother insists it couldn't be suicide, Rebecca agrees to look into the death. Rebecca soon realizes that Madeline was not all she seemed to be and as she investigates the on-line dating world for a writing assignment, she realizes the two are linked. The more she looks into both cases, the more she puts herself into danger, danger she may not escape from.

"Deadly Advice" is a well written and well plotted mystery. Rebecca is a nicely done, complex heroine, show more recently divorced and just starting to get her life back together. She is not perfect and her own personal therapy sessions help develop her character. While her advice column is interesting to read about, as were her attempts at on-line dating, what I liked best about the book were the details about her home life - her cooking, her taking in Madeline's cat, and her neighbors and the condo meetings they had. Rebecca's neighbors - especially Mts. Dunbarton, Peter Morgan, and Babette Fnster - are all well done. The mystery itself is well written and well plotted with plenty of red herrings and readers will have a hard time figuring out who the killer is. While author Roberta Isleib flirts with the almost standard mystery plot device of a romance between Rebecca and Detective Jack Meigs, she adds a welcome wrinkle to that formula. And, while the book seems on the surface to be a cozy mystery, it's a bit too gritty to fit that definition.

"Deadly Advice" is well done. show less

The apparent suicide of a young woman disrupts a neighborhood of mostly single women. Her next door neighbor, a psychologist, feels guilty for not getting to know her and thereby missing the warning signs. The victim's mother pressures her to prove her daughter didn't kill herself.

The mystery was well plotted and moved quickly. Dr. Rebecca Butterman was compassionate and thoughtful, but also burdened by a lot of self-doubt.

I really REALLY liked this mystery. The characters were multi-layered and the plot kept me guessing until the very end. I look forward to reading more from Roberta Isleib!

If you're tired of oh-so-cozy mysteries set in little towns, this is the book for you. Complex characters, seedy settings, but not harsh.

A nice mystery. Rebecca is a counselor and writes an advice column. When her next door neighbor is murdered, the woman's mother asks Rebecca to investigate. Rebecca's editor also asks her to investigate the world of dating, including speed dating. There's some technology that might confuse some. Rebecca also cooks which is a bonus element. There are lots of intriguing friends, an ex-husband, and her clients that suggest that will be more to come in this series.

Roberta Islieb was one of the authors who came to the Anchorage Bouchercon and went to talk to school kids. She went to Kenai and Homer, not really, Bush Alaska, but still not suburban Connecticut.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Rebecca Butterman's neighbor was found dead in her condo. Apparently from a suicide. Her mother doesn't believe her daughter would kill herself and insists Rebecca look into her daughter's death. As Rebecca retraces Madeline's last steps, she realizes her neighbor had a secret life. Can Rebecca find out what really happened the night Madeline died before the killer stops her?

I liked this one, but I think I like her golf series better.