Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781516107261
Lyrical Underground
218 Pages
$15.95; $7.49 Amazon
June 2, 2020
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With Halloween just around the corner, Dodie O'Dell is making preparations to transform the Windjammer Restaurant on the Jersey Shore into a haunted house, while the Etonville Little Theatre is staging Dracula. But casting the titular Transylvanian is proving challenging. The amateur actors in the company are not shy about chewing the scenery, but who among them can convincingly sink their fangs into a victim's neck? When a mysterious newcomer with a transfixing Eastern European accent lands the part, rumors that he might be an actual vampire start to take flight -- not unlike the bat who's recently been spotted in the town park.
But everyone's blood really runs cold when a stranger is found in the cemetery with a real stake in his heart. Dodie decides to put her Halloween theme menu on the back burner and stick her neck out to bring the killer into the light of day. She'd better keep her wits about her, though -- or Dodie may be the next one to go down for the Count...
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Dodie O'Dell is manager of the Windjammer Restaurant in Etonville, New Jersey. Their restaurant is near by the Etonville Little Theatre, and each time the ELT puts on a play, the Windjammer coordinates their menus to fit. Right now they're planning on running Dracula, and Dodie is looking forward to it, visiting the theatre and her friends. She's as surprised as everyone that the man chosen to play the famous count is from out of town and living with his wife in what the locals consider a haunted house. When Dodie meets Carlos Villiarios, she's not sure what to make of him. He's mysterious, tall, dark, and fits the role perfectly.
She's also looking forward to Halloween, when she can wear her specially chosen costume for her fiancé, Bill, who also happens to be police chief in their little town. The costume's a hit, and Dodie can start planning her wedding, but something inside her is keeping her from making the plans with her wedding planner, her best friend Lola.
But the theatre has problems of its own, with accidents and lights failing, and her friend Lola is worried that the show won't go on. But it does; and things seem to settle down. Then there's a costume party at Carlos's home, with his wife Bella reading fortunes to keep the fun going, and during the party Dodie notices a man dressed as the Grim Reaper standing in a corner. He meets eyes with Carlos, and then seems to disappear from sight.
When a body is found in the cemetery later that night, it turns out to be the man in the Grim Reaper costume. Now Dodie has questions about what's going on. She knows that Carlos knew the man even if he denies it; she saw him but it seems no one else did; and why doesn't anyone know anything about Carlos's past? Dodie has a mystery on her hands, and even when Bill tells her to leave it alone, she can't. But will looking into the mystery put her in danger?...
I know it's not even near Halloween, but I do so like Ms. Trauth's books that I wanted to read this latest one, and I wasn't disappointed. I began this book in the dentist's office (I was there for a cleaning, but my husband was getting a crown, so...) and it was so enjoyable that I hated to put it down until I got home. Oh, well...
I love the characters in this town. They're like a family to each other, watching each other's backs and even the Banger sisters are a hoot, hearing a snippet of something and running with it like they're running with the bulls in Pamplona. These are people you'd like to spend time with, given the chance.
Dodie is an intelligent woman who likes the puzzle of a mystery, and even though she's the manager of a restaurant, she'd rather be taking those pieces and putting them together. The problem she has is trying to keep everything she's doing from Bill; but she doesn't hide information that she gleans. She gives every bit of it to him when she discovers it, which shows they're more or less a team, and I like that.
As to the mystery, it was done nicely; and even though I figured out what was going on a lot earlier than Dodie (I read a lot of mysteries) I relished watching her take each little thread she found and weave it slowly together, along with the others, to give her a tapestry of what she was looking for.
And what she discovered wasn't what she expected to find -- nor me. There was an intriguing twist toward the end that even I didn't expect, and I found it fascinating. When everything came together and the murderer was discovered, it was definitely a surprise; and then there was even one more surprise that was given to the reader that leaves us looking forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Time-Dodie-ODell-Mystery/dp/1516107268/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3389907316
More on Suzanne Trauth's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/suzanne-trauth/
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