The Tooth of Time

I enjoy these cozy mysteries by Sue Henry. Maxie McNabb is a widowed lady from Alaska who travels in her 30 foot Winnebago with her miniature dachsund, Stretch. In this novel, the second in the series, Maxie moves to Taos, New Mexico when the whether outside of Phoenix starts getting too warm in May. One reason she chose Taos is because of the many artists who live there. Maxie knits and does other fabric arts and she has been ordering her yarn from a place in Taos that specializes in weaving. One of the first things she does in town is go to Weaving Southwest to get some more wool. And that's how the trouble starts.

One woman who had been taking weaving classes was found almost asphyxiated in her car. The woman, Shirley Morgan, denies show more that she had been trying to commit suicide. Maxie gets involved and invites her to stay in her motorhome but is dismayed when Shirley disappears without a word the next morning. Then Shirley is found dead in her bathtub apparently having slit her wrists. And Maxie's motorhome is broken into and searched while Maxie is out. Then Stretch is kidnapped and Maxie is told to get him back she has to give the kidnappers what Shirley left for her. Maxie does manage to get Stretch back even though she has no idea what the kidnappers want. She leaves town but soon returns when her conscience (or her dead husband's voice) makes her realize she has to help solve Shirley's murder.

Henry includes lots of details about Taos and the surrounding area as well as much information about weaving and wool dyeing. It was just the sort of quick, light read that I wanted for our vacation in Alberta. show less

Because I recently traveled to Taos NM where the book is mostly set, I enjoyed revisiting it in this latest Sue Henry. Henry includes lots of details about Taos and the surrounding area as well as much information about weaving and wool dyeing. That can be tedious, if you're not into it.The murder mystery part of the book is interesting. You will be surprised at whodunit and why.

The main character, Maxie McNabb, is an older twice widowed woman who with her dog Stretch is from Alaska but during the winter, she travels in her small RV throughout the country. She is in the Taos, New Mexico area when a woman she let stay in her RV for a night is found dead. She befriends the local Detective and she makes friends with locals involved in weaving and working with yarn, including dying. I liked Maxie. She parks her RV and rents a car and checks out local landscape and other attractions. In the summer, she returns home to Alaska. The dog belonged to her last husband. I am going to check out other books in this series.

Because I recently traveled to Taos NM where the book is mostly set, I enjoyed revisiting it in this latest Sue Henry. Generally I like both of her series. However, the plotting seemed off, with improper foundation set for the denouement.

Alaskan senior citizen Maxie McNabb, along with her weiner dog Stretch, have been traveling in the lower 48 states and the current journey takes them to Taos, New Mexico, in their mini Winnebago RV. While visiting the local yarn shop Maxie is mesmerized by the beautiful woven articles on display and soon she is knee deep in locally dyed yarns and her own small weaving loom. What should be a quiet, picturesque visit to a renowned American art colony quickly turns into a murder mystery for Maxie as she becomes an innocent bystander when a new acquaintance is killed after visiting Maxie in her Mini Winnie. Apparently the murder victim hid something valuable in the motor home because Maxie finds it ransacked and her beloved Stretch show more dognapped. Unable to find whatever it is the killers are after, Maxie fears for Stretch's life as well as her own.

This is the first book I have read in this series by Sue Henry and while it was a quick, light read I don't think I enjoyed it enough to continue with the rest of the books. The mystery itself was rather convoluted and strange but Henry's descriptions of New Mexico, Taos and the art of weaving are very interesting. show less

Maxie and Stretch star in this Sue Henry mystery (her Alaska mysteries are more numerous). I imagine Sue to be the template for Maxie. The mystery takes place in Taos, New Mexico, where Maxie gets involved with a woman who is shortly murdered. Entertaining tale. Henry is an almost indifferent writer, but drives her story along nicely. She has a gift for description as well. Lots of good details to learn about the settings of her books are a bonus. I've read almost all her books, as they are predictably entertaining.

I know I liked the last book I read by her, but this one.... Nothing happened until 100 pages into the story, and since the book was only 243 pages long, that's a big chunk of the book.

Even then, the death mentioned was an article in the paper, and it was just a curiosity, not something the characters were concerned about or investigated or anything. And at the end, one of the mysteries wasn't even conclusively solved.

To make matters worse, the book started out in the present, went back in time a little way, then went back in time again to the start of the story. That can work, if something's actually happening, but nothing was.

Prologue: look at a mountain, reminisce~~>Chapter 1: walk through some sand dunes, decide to go back to show more where she'd just come from, reminisce~~~>Chapter 2: a few days earlier. No suspense or anything at all to make the reader go "ooh, I wonder what brought her to this point" which is, IMO, what you need to do that sort of jumping back in time.

The book was more a slice of life story than a mystery, which may indeed be what was intended, even though it's subtitled "a Maxie and Stretch mystery", and I'm trying to not let expectations color my opinion of a book, but I find slice of life stories boring.

And did I mention the mystery? Not completely solved? Bah. show less