Reviewed by Jeanne
A benefit of being a member of the Dorothy-L listserv is being introduced to new authors. This time it’s Annette Mahon, a former librarian who has several books to her credit. Besides some stand-alone books, she’s the author of the St. Rose Quilting Bee mysteries.
As An Ominous Death begins, Maggie Browne and the ladies of the St. Rose Quilting Bee decide to visit Candy Breckner, a sometime quilter who is recovering from a serious auto accident. The visit is an uneasy one: Candy is convinced that an “Angel of Death” is loose in the Palo Verde Care Center, killing off elderly patients. Maggie and the others have their doubts, wondering if a recent program about a murderous nurse in another state might have influenced their friend. After all, Candy tends to be a bit emotional and dramatic in the best of times. Now she’s also under the influence of pain medication for two broken legs and unhappy at being confined to a care facility, none of which is conducive to clear thinking.
Before the Quilters can reach any conclusions, Candy herself is murdered. Is it because of her suspicions about the Angel of Death? Or could the murderer be someone closer to home—even a member of the Quilters?
This is a solid second entry in Mahon’s Quilter series. The pace is leisurely, giving the characters time to discuss various clues and make observations. They also drop in interesting bits of general information (ill omens, mercy killing, etc.) during conversations. Maggie is an intelligent, compassionate lady who takes a measured approach to the mysteries; though her policeman son thinks she takes too many chances with her questions, Maggie does try to be cautious. This makes her more believable to me than some of the cozy sleuths who don disguises and go prowling around suspects’ houses at night.
The other members of quilting club aren’t as well developed, though Mahon tries to give each a bit of time. There is some information about quilting but not so much as to bore a non-quilter, and the author makes it sound like fun.
Note: Despite the cat on the cover, no cat appears in An Ominous Death. This is a phenomenon I’ve noticed before in book covers: cats tend to appear even if it’s not part of the story. I think it’s just visual shorthand for “a cozy mystery.” The quilt and medical chart do reflect content! I have to mention a coincidence, though: I had just finished reading Making Rounds with Oscar by Dr. David Dosa, about the cat in a care facility who seems to know when patients are about to die. This made the cover seem eerily appropriate to Candy’s situation.
The next book in the series is Bits and Pieces which just came out in January 2010:
Six months earlier, a house explosion killed a young mother and her twin daughters. The police are playing it close to the chest, but they have named the husband, Kenny, as a “person of interest.” He wasn’t at home, nor has anyone seen him since the incident—at least not until Clare, a mystery book aficionado and member of the Quilting Bee, calls Maggie to announce she’s seen Kenny in a store. Maggie is somewhat dubious, but encourages Clare to alert the police. The next call sends Maggie into high alert: Clare has decided to follow Kenny on her own!
Actually, this was the first Quilting Bee Mystery I read, being fortunate enough to win an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the author. She generously donated the large print edition of An Ominous Death to the library for our collection. I asked Annette if they should be read in order and she felt each could stand alone so I started with the newer title.
Let me set the stage a bit, a la Doris: I’ve been having some work done on my house. I had intended to have this work done in phases with lots of recovery time in between but it hasn’t worked out that way. I find this hard on my nerves, but it’s nothing compared to what it does to the cats! In fact, I have an early warning system: as soon as one of the trucks pulls up in my yard, a herd of cats stampedes in all directions. Since I’m required to be on the premises while some of the work is being done, I was in deep need of a cozy to keep me occupied and not flinching at every crash while allowing me to respond to the frequent calls for my attention.
Bits and Pieces fit the bill admirably. There are a number of characters: excitable, dreamy Clare, practical but sympathetic Maggie, no-nonsense Edie and patient Victoria seemed to figure most prominently in this one. The puzzle is well constructed and interesting with many avenues for investigation. The characters play well off each other: even though one character was thoroughly convinced of Kenny’s innocence, there were others who took a more dubious view. I was pleased that they took nothing for granted, but re-examined the lives of people they thought they knew. The characters are also very aware of not being real detectives and discuss the difference between real detectives and the fictional detectives whose exploits they enjoy reading.
I liked the bits of information that were dropped in at intervals. For example, in the course of the investigation one character asks about the different types of calcium tablets available. I had asked a pharmacist about this not long ago myself! The “name dropping” of sleuths done by the characters was a nice touch, as characters spoke of the adventures of Amelia Peabody or Annie Darling. Again, the quilting references were also short enough not to bother non-quilters but were nice little perks for folks who do. I’m going to be passing this one along to a couple of quilters I know, one of whom may be inspired to make the lovely quilted cabin on the cover (perhaps without the flames, however!)
The library also holds two other books by Ms. Mahon, Holiday Dreams and Secret Correspondence, both F MAH Main.
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