Ray's Reviews: A Most Curious Murder by Michigan Author Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

       “A Most Curious Murder” by Mancelona MI author Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli (Crooked Lane, $25.99) is a bizarre cozy mystery overflowing with odd, quirky characters.

        It’s one of those books aimed at a very specific audience that’s likely to disappoint many other readers.

        This is a debut novel in a new "Little Library Mystery" series that’s set in the small town of Bear Lake MI.

        It stars Jenny Weston, who’s frustrated after a nasty divorce; she’s moved back from Chicago to recover. She’s recuperating at the house she grew up in, staying with her mother Dora.

        All sorts of things seem to go wrong after Jenny arrives – earlier, her mother’s beloved little lending library was destroyed outside their home - the books were ruined.

        Jenny meets a strange new neighbor, Zoe Zola, her mother’s friend, an outspoken “little person” worried about the situation.

        Zoe is a successful writer working on a book about Lewis Carroll and his most famous creation, "Alice in Wonderland”.

        Jenny and Zoe decide to do their own investigating – they suspect the culprit is Adam Cane, a cranky, reclusive neighbor from a wealthy family. 

        Their work becomes considerably more challenging when Adam is discovered murdered in Zoe’s fairy garden.

        The town’s police chief, who went to school with Jenny, believes Zoe did it.

        Jenny is joined by Tony, a handsome carpenter who’s an ex-cop; more investigation turns up few clues and another dead body.

        Zoe’s held for questioning, a lawyer gets involved and other complications muddle the case.

        Jenny’s womanizing, alcoholic ex-boyfriend, who’s got many personal problems, is also a suspect; Jenny doesn’t have fond memories of their abrupt earlier break-up years earlier.

        While the book is entertaining at times, Zoe’s dialogue is very confusing – even if you’re an “Alice” fan. There’s a touch of romance, but lots of anxiety and little humor.

        Most characters aren’t particularly likable – after a while, I just didn’t really care who destroyed the lending library or committed the murders.

        After a few hundred pages, I started peeking to see how much more I still had to read – never a good sign.

        Buzzelli has written eight other novels, including three using the pseudonym of Elizabeth Lee.

        Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed crime

novels and Michigan books regularly since 1987. One of his favorite books

is Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

Find this book and other great titles

at the Curious Book Shop, an independent 

book shop in East Lansing, founded in 1969.

Curious Book Shop

307 East Grand River Avenue

East Lansing, Michigan

517.332.0112

This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on July 24, 2016.

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Ray's Reviews: Devil's Grace by Local Author Karen Dean Benson

       “Devil’s Grace” by Bath author Karen Dean Benson (Satin Romance, $15.95) is a compelling historical romance that’s subtitled “Renn Arelia’s Story.”  Benson is a member of East Lansing’s MSUCC Creative Writing
Group.

        It’s an intriguing debut novel, the first in her “Ladies of Mischief” series, set in the late 1700’s in England and Spain.

        The well-designed 290-page trade paperback showcases eighteen-year-old, beautiful Renn Arelia Sheridan, who’s orphaned when her parents tragically drown in a carriage accident.

        She enjoys teaching young children, but her new guardians, a duke and duchess, have other ideas. They tell her that her parents, who ran prosperous horse-breeding stables, left her nothing.

        The pair have searched Renn’s room and the entire manor, looking for a valuable emerald locket. They put the location up for sale and dismiss the staff, forcing Renn to go with them to the ancestral Chippenham estate in London.

        They have other devious plans for her, including an arranged marriage to a wealthy, obnoxious French Marquis.

        When strong-willed Renn rebuffs the betrothal, she gets into real trouble; she quickly makes her escape into the dark night.

        She’s almost run over by a carriage and is picked up by handsome Sebastian Navarre, Spanish Captain of “The Wind Devil”.

        Renn is soon aboard his ship, wanting to dropped-off at Gravesend, where she plans to teach in an orphanage.

        An unexpected romance occurs, the intrigue never stops and the swiftly-paced book soon becomes impossible to put down.

        Benson’s terrific tale is full of well-developed characters, carefully-researched locales and settings, believable dialogue, dangerous threats and a brooding air of tension.

        Her second volume in the series “Mission Song - Chenoa’s Story” (Satin Romance, $16.95) is a stand-alone novel that’s set in the 1830’s.

         It follows the journey of a young woman who escapes the suffocating restrictions of a Boston convent, returning to Carmel, Alta California, where she was born.

        As in Benson’s first book, there are many family secrets, unusual relationships, thwarted romance and violence; a nasty, vengeful character with evil intentions must be stopped.

        “Mulberry Bend – Aisling’s Story”, the third entry in the series, set in the 1860’s, has numerous surprises as well; it’s scheduled for release later this summer.

        More information is available at www.karendeanbenson.com.

        Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, 

has reviewed books by Michigan authors and crime novels regularly since 1987.

Find this book and other great titles

at the Curious Book Shop, an independent 

book shop in East Lansing, founded in 1969.

Curious Book Shop

307 East Grand River Avenue

East Lansing, Michigan

517.332.0112

This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on July 10, 2016.

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Ray's Reviews: Double Tap by Peter McGarvey

If you’re looking for bizarre, adrenaline-charged entertainment, “Double Tap”, by Canadian author Peter McGarvey (Cliff House Publishing, $14.95) should certainly be on your reading list.


It is likely to have specialized appeal however, as the entertaining crime novel has many deadly scenes of violence and sexual overtones.


More than half of the characters end up as corpses in a variety of often-gruesome murder scenes – untraceable to the main characters Rip Hunter and his sidekick Wilma.


Operating as expensive contract killers out of Detroit, the deadly duo are quite successful, relying exclusively on recommendations from their many satisfied customers.


This well-researched trade paperback is laced with dark humor, focusing on the incredible and sometimes improbable lengths the psychopaths will go to get information.


Against his better judgment, Rip takes on an unusual assignment – track down the killers of a prominent Senator for the Senator’s daughter.


It’s odd because he already knows the answer – Rip and Wilma did the unsolved crime three years earlier; they have to dig much deeper to discover the source of the money given to the person who hired them.


Their crime-laden journey gets them into many hectic confrontations, including deadly action with mobsters, renegade bikers, crooked cops, a nasty prison guard, a satanic cult, sadistic reclusive billionaires, hungry alligators and much, much more.


Intriguing characters abound, including a clever therapist, power-driven inmates, assorted geniuses, other successful hitmen and a pretty drug-smuggler.


The action doesn’t take place only in Detroit; the blood-spattered tale begins in Switzerland and moves around the country with conflict in a Michigan prison, a whiteout snowstorm in Buffalo NY and a Class Four hurricane in Charleston SC.


Just when you think “What else can possibly go wrong?” something does – their use of a truth serum and a drone gets unexpected, often surprising results.


While the characters names are occasionally annoying, the carefully-concocted, convoluted plot has an ending that’s impossible to predict.


This is the second book in a series, following “Hair-Trigger”, where Rip and Wilma break their own rules and get into lots of trouble.


McGarvey is also the author of two books in the Molly Parsons series, “Dark Sunset” and “Bloody Sunset” starring a Michigan small-town police officer with a haunted past.


More information is available at www.petermcgarvey.com.

        Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed crime

novels and Michigan books regularly since 1987.

Find this book and other great titles

at the Curious Book Shop, an independent 

book shop in East Lansing, founded in 1969.

Curious Book Shop

307 East Grand River Avenue

East Lansing, Michigan

517.332.0112

This review was originally published by the Lansing State Journal on July 3, 2016.

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