Killing Time (A Dodie O'Dell Mystery Book 6)

Author:  Suzanne Trauth
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/

Just in Time (A Dodie O'Dell Mystery #4)

Author:  Suzanne Trauth
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781516107223
Lyrical Underground
$15.00; $5.99 Amazon
September 25, 2018

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Business is humming at Dodie O'Dell's Windjammer Restaurant, where she offers theme menus connected to the Eltonville Little Theatre's amateur productions.  This June, the theater is collaborating with the neighboring Creston Players to stage Bye Bye Birdie under the stars - their first musical!  There's a contest in the play to pick a fan to receive Conrad Birdie's last kiss before he ships off for the Army, so Dodie plans a contest to pick the food for a pre-show picnic.

But before the show opens, Ruby, the rehearsal accompanist, is found dead in her car.  Why would anyone murder the crusty old gal who loved to sneak a smoke and a nip between wisecracks?  Once again, the resourceful restaurant manager must play the part of amateur sleuth, accompanied by Police Chief Bill Thompson, who also happens to be her beau.  Confronted with a chorus of suspects, she'll need to stay composed to catch the killer - or it'll be bye bye Dodie...

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Dodie O'Dell works at the Windjammer Cafe, and is helping with the Etonville Little Theater's latest production, Bye, Bye, Birdie.  They're performing with members of nearby Creston's theater group, and all seems to be coming together at first.  But soon it's apparent that there is trouble with the cast that keeps things from running smoothly.  The director Walter is unhappy that the woman he's enamored of, Lola, is involved with another member of the crew, Dale Undershot.  Pauli, a local teen who's a whiz on computers and technology, is hankering for Janice, who plays the lead, but she seems to only have eyes for Romeo, who's playing Conrad Birdie.  And so it goes...

However, an elderly woman from Creston, Ruby Passonata, is the pianist and she's a genius at it but not very nice to the people around her.  In fact, there isn't anyone who wants to spend time with her and after seeing Dodie and her boyfriend Bill, who's the police chief of Etonville, she makes a cryptic remark about relationships that Dodie just doesn't understand.  When Ruby dies in what at first appears to be an accident but is soon discovered to be an attempt at hiding a murder, Bill is stumped and asks Dodie to keep her ears open and see if she hears anything about the Creston Players that could hint at who wanted to kill Ruby. 

When Dodie and Lola venture out to Creston to Ruby's apartment to see if she has the cue notes needed for the play, they don't expect it to be so clean, Dodie finds a scrapbook that Ruby kept which details her early years, is surprised to find Ruby went to a prestigious music academy, and traveled world wide playing.  But the scrapbook mysteriously ends in 1969 and Dodie wants to know what stopped Ruby.  So she decides to try and find out why Ruby stopped her burgeoning career and wound up playing for a small town theater group.  So Dodie sets forth merely to find out more about the reclusive woman, but doesn't realize that in doing so she might be putting her own life in danger.

First off, I have to say that this is the first book I've read of Ms. Trauth's, yet because it is the fourth in the series I rather expected more from the author.  I knew very little about the numerous characters and they seemed way too quirky for me.  In most books there is only one person who is quirky, but in this book everyone except Bill seems to be a little bit over the top in that area.  The other thing that bothered me is the way like, Pauli like, talks.  He sounds like a Valley girl.  I would have enjoyed his character more if he could actually form complete sentences once in a while.

While I knew who the killer was almost immediately, (to be fair, though, I read a lot of mysteries, so unless it's hidden well, I can usually figure it out just by something that's said or done early on), it was still interesting to me to learn the reasons why they wanted Ruby dead.  Bits and pieces were strewn throughout the story, so you didn't learn it all at once, and that's always a good thing.  

The plot was done well, and I thought that everything came together nicely in the end; there were a couple of harrowing moments for Dodie, but she bore them out decently and I have to say that I enjoyed the ending, giving us a promise of what is to come in future books.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Just-Time-Dodie-ODell-Mystery-ebook/dp/B078QTBB4F/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2533527036

More on Suzanne Trauth's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/suzanne-trauth/