Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Par for the Corpse-T. Dawn Richard

Par for the Corpse
T. Dawn Richard
Five Star, Apr 6 2011, $25.95
ISBN: 9781594149559

Late sixties May Bell List travels to Moody Lake; the site is where Pendersnack the fisherman caught the hair of a human corpse. Harvest Police Officer Mike Murphy is unhappy to see May arrive at the murder scene; while she is elated to see her favorite law enforcement official already there. May identifies the body as golfer widower Moira Finch who apparently was killed by an altered gardening tool.

After a stomach wrenching stop at Spokane General for the autopsy, May Bell goes undercover at the Northside Country Club where the victim played. She pretends to need a job due to monetary troubles and is hired by grounds supervisor Jeff Gullikson. Meanwhile at the site where Finch was found, campers are raging over a thief stealing from them while May finds the body of Buddy Shields apparently killed by a modified gardening tool. May and the grounds-crew investigate with her prime suspect being the nice man who just hired her.

Although Par for the Course has the amateur sleuth flaw of a civilian risking their life doing a dangerous investigation for no apparent motive; fans will enjoy May Bell’s latest inquiry (see (Death for Dessert and A Wrinkle in Crime) into homicides linked by the club. The case is lighthearted fun as sub-genre readers will enjoy a couple rounds with the intrepid zany May Bell on case.

Harriet Klausner

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