Larkspur
Sheila SimonsonMystery
Available from Uncial Press
ISBN: 978-1-60174-122-6
September 2011
| Lark Dailey is a bookstore owner in a northern California town near Mt. Shasta. When invited to a lodge owned by Dai Llewellyn, her mother, a poet, urges her to attend. She agrees, but Jay Dodge, her cop boyfriend, accompanies her to the meeting of the local literati. The murder of their host, a well-known poet and professor, mars their stay at the lodge. The murder weapon is a drink laced with a drop of stewed delphinium which is fatal. Jay takes charge of the murder investigation even as the killer claims more victims. When the chauffeur disappears, they assume he's running because he's guilty, but then he's found dead, shot, but not by his own hand. Then someone strangles Denise, a former dancer and lover of the host, which, of course, removes her from the suspect list. It isn't until the very ending during a tense and exciting scene that Jay identifies the killer.
This is a very interesting and well-crafted mystery with a number of suspects and enough red herrings to make the reader dizzy. The author has created some very interesting characters, giving them traits much like one would expect the literati to have. As soon as the reader is convinced of the guilty party, the author takes another path, and the reader starts figuring it out all over again. The main characters, Lark and Jay, are very different from one another, but still complement one another. Lark shows concern and feelings for her friends and those she met at the lodge, while still caring for Jay and keeping quiet about the facts of the case. Jay is a very interesting character. The author clearly shows his caring, not only for Lark, but for the people he must question. His sense of humor appears, though not often. I did have a couple questions about the manner of questioning, but for the most part thought the author did a magnificent job. The love between Jay and Lark progresses until near the end of the book, where they decide to marry. Since this is the first in a series, I will definitely look for the next one.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Jaye Leyel |
