Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9798656406024
Independently Published
228 Pages
$15.95; $6.99 Amazon
June 23, 2020
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Another day, another dead woman in Ellison's study. Only this one claimed to be Mrs. Anarchy Jones as Ellison juggles mothers, daughter, unhappy wives, and near-miss murder attempted, one thing is clear -- someone will go to any lengths to hide the truth. Can Ellison and Anarchy catch a killer before the body count rises? Or will Ellison be the next corpse in the study?
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Ellison Russell is a wealthy, widowed artist with a teenage daughter who lives in upper class Kansas City, Missouri in 1975. She's getting ready to go on a trip to Italy with her beau, homicide detective Anarchy Jones, and make something permanent of their relationship. Luggage is packed, her housekeeper Aggie is staying at her home to care for her daughter, and all she needs is to head to the airport. Or not. After running an errand, she arrives home and Aggie isn't too happy: it seems there's a woman waiting for her in her late husband's study, and she's identified herself as Mrs. Anarchy Jones.
Stomach drops. Head spins. And all she has to do is open the door and find out what's going on. Unfortunately, what's going on is that Ellison has another dead body on her hands. A woman that she's never seen before. When she calls Anarchy, it turns out he's never seen her before, either. So who is the dead woman? Why would she lie about herself? And what did she come here for? Coffee. Ellison needs coffee, now...
Just when Ellison thought she had her life in the right place it seems she doesn't. Identifying the woman is easy, since everything in her purse is spilled out on the floor. Monica Alexander. The name means nothing to either of them, but a woman is dead, she's in Ellison's home, and now they have the task of figuring out why...
Again unfortunately, things aren't going to be easy. Not only do they need to figure this out, Ellison has other obligations at hand: since she's not going to Italy, the next day suddenly got full: she's agreed to play a fourth at bridge, and her father wants her to go golfing with him. Golfing with her father means her mother isn't happy with her, and her father needs to intervene. Little does Ellison know that these two innocuous events are going to change things, in more ways than one.
But even with this, things couldn't get worse, right? Wrong. Anarchy's mother has come unannounced for a visit, and he's not happy. Especially when she wants to meet Ellison. All Ellison can think is this woman can't meet her mother. Not ever...
So what we have is basically what is just another normal day for Ellison Russell: artist, mother, widow, dead body magnet. In fact, the only thing that's going right is the fact that she can always depend on Mr. Coffee to keep her sane throughout the day. (Not that I blame her; without coffee, I wouldn't even be moving. We're very good friends, too).
Monica Alexander, however, is another puzzle Ellison needs answers for. What she discovers is that Monica is the friend of friends, and she lives in another town altogether. So why was she here? And what did she want from Ellison? It doesn't take long for Ellison to figure that part out, but the story doesn't end there. What follows is a spider's web of secrets that keeps growing and lies that get entangled within one another as she looks for a killer. Which she shouldn't be doing in the first place, especially when there's an attempt on her life. But Ellison is made of stronger stuff, and she wants answers. After all, it was her home (not that it's the first time, but still...).
When Ellison discovers that Monica's trips to Kansas City were tied to people she knows, she has to decide what to do with her knowledge, since these are her friends and there's more at stake than a dead woman's justice. What Ellison finally uncovers is darker than she ever imagined, and sadder than anything she's ever known. Finding the truth could also put her relationship with Anarchy in peril, but Ellison knows what she needs to do is right.
I have been following this series from the beginning, so when I read of Ellison it's almost as if I'm a voyeur to her life, following her every move (although I'm glad I'm not the one finding the bodies) and it's probably one of the best series out there. Ms. Mulhern has a way of bringing Ellison and the others to life, pulling them right off the pages. These are characters that are animated and breathing on the pages, and I love being a part of their world, even if only for a fraction of time.
Going back to life in the 1970s when there was no Internet and cell phones, when human interaction was at a premium and there was a lot more actual face-to-face contact made things different than they are now, and more on a personal level. Ellison's world consists of people visiting instead of texting, talking with people to get information instead of using the Internet, and in many ways, it was a brighter one, bringing people closer together.
In the end, finding the killer might have been a bit of a surprise, yet the motive and reasons why show us what desperation can do, and it was rather sad in a way. But the surprises don't end there, and give us a reason to look forward to the next book. I will say that if you've never read this series, please don't start with this book. Go back to the very first one -- The Deep End -- and you won't be disappointed; in fact, you'll probably be addicted. Highly recommended.
More on Julie Mulhern's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/julie-mulhern/
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