Never Preach Past Noon

The third Leigh Koslow mystery, Never Preach Past Noon, has Leigh investigating on behalf of her Aunt Bess and Warren's Uncle Ted. Both are members of the First Church of the New Millenium run by Reverend Reginald Humphrey who has a dazzling smile and kind eyes - and a terribly bad habit of conning people. Aunt Bess is positive he's a fraud but can't prove it and then Uncle Ted winds up on murder charges and Leigh finds herself right back in the middle.

This one was hilarious. The whole cast of characters had me in hysterics. From Aunt Bess, wh0's a better liar than Leigh had ever imagined, to Frances' mother-henning to Maura's patented disappointed Leigh turns up at a crime look, this had me giggling away. Poor Leigh. She tries so hard show more not to find a body. But does anyway.

The romance between Warren and Katherine carried over from the last book. Leigh's constant struggle with her feelings over it was very teenage-y. But it ended up sorting itself out without too much drama thankfully. I don't hate her and Warren together. Just annoyed by how they got there with the should I, no I couldn't, blah blah blah. The bit where they actually got together was nice enough anyway.

The mystery was good - I worked out bits and pieces but it was a well plotted storyline. I guessed at the ending although the last chapter was a nice touch. I hated that Maura's confidence was shaken when she fails to find the body in the freezer (- on the other hand - like anyone would expect that a break in was to leave something, rather than to steal) but I was glad she gets her own back with her capture of Noel (Reginald's fake wife) and Martin (Reginald's very real identical twin brother ).

I adored that Frances and Lydie, but mainly Frances is the one to solve/save the day. First she works out that Reginald is a twin. Then she manoeuvres the guy to stand in front of the vicious cat (and ugh cats are evil bastards) and let's him attack. That was a stroke of genius. I loved how dumbfounded Leigh was. I was sad that Randall or Cara didn't really make an appearance. But it was nice getting to know more about the rest of Leigh's family.

A very funny and interesting mystery. 4 stars. show less

I just love the characters in Edie Swihart's books. This book introduces Leigh's aunt Bess, the member of the family most like Leigh and one who has taken her under her wing. Aunt Bess is a free spirited lady and naturally the chairman of the church board. For a free lance advertising agency partner, Leigh has more curiosity and moxie than is healthy. The rich dialogue kept me glued to the pages and laughing out loud as twisted situations developed. There is a mystery and I'm sorry to say, I took all the wrong clues and had to read every word to come to the mystery solution (even my guesses were way off but, I laughed a lot). If you have been reading too many books that feature more gruesome anatomy than is healthy, come back to fun and show more read this book! show less

Leigh Koslow and her sleuthing partner, Aunt Bess, begin to suspect that the Reverend Humphrey is really a con man, but their case is turned upside down with the missing parson becomes the victim of foul play. Original.