Hard Candy Christmas: A Talbot & Andrews Investigation by Susan M. Boyer

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Liz Talbot, her husband Nate Andrews, and Liz’s family are at the airport seeing her brother and his family off for Christmas in Italy. It’s an emotional send-off, but nothing compared to what happens next:  an officer shows up to inform them that Frank, Liz’s father, has been accused of murder.

It’s not a recent murder, either. The bones that turned up in the swamp had been there for decades, maybe since the 1990s.  They belong to Paul Miller, who was married to Frank’s sister Sharon.  It’s safe to say Frank was not a fan.  He was heard arguing with, and threatening, Paul in 1998—and Paul was never seen again.

Although Liz’s mother Carolyn had forbidden Liz and Nate from resuming their careers as investigators, she’s willing to make an exception now.  Fortunately, Liz has Colleen, her best friend for life—and afterlife.  Colleen died when she was 17, but hangs around to keep a watchful eye on the island they both love and call home.  While Colleen can’t intervene, she can offer advice, cryptic though it may have to be.

The problem isn’t just that the murder happened so long ago. Paul Miller had a checkered past, to put it mildly: one that included drug running, violence, intimidation, and who knows what else. A lot of people weren’t sorry to see the last of Paul Miller.

With an arrest looming, and her father in fragile health, Liz and Nate are racing against time to find the real killer or else this could their last family Christmas together.

I’ve read and enjoyed entries in both of Boyer’s other series, the Liz Talbot Mystery series and the Carolina Tales series. She creates memorable characters, none more so than Colleen, the ghostly best friend with a sense of humor. Colleen who acts as a sort of guardian angel for Stella Maris, the fictional South Carolina island the characters call home.  Colleen is a treasure.  The setting has a wonderful Southern vibe to it, and I really appreciate Boyer’s gentle sense of humor.

I particularly enjoyed the plot in this one.  I freely admit that I didn’t see the answer coming but the solution felt plausible and satisfying.  The ends were tied up just right, including some I didn’t know need to be tied until I read it. While there can be tough times and unlikeable people, there is an underlying sweetness that has a great attraction for me.

There is a list of characters in the front of the book which appears a bit daunting but don’t let that deter you.  This book brings together characters from her other series, but you needn’t have read all of them to enjoy this book.

Fun note: the title is a Dolly Parton song, and each chapter has the title of a different Christmas carol.

I’m very much looking forward to Liz and Nate’s next adventure!

Full disclosure:  I was sent an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book but the opinions expressed are my own.

Lowcountry Boil by Susan M. Boyer

Reviewed by Jeanne

In her first adventure, Lowcountry Boil, private investigator Liz Talbot had returned to her childhood home of Stella Maris after the death of her grandmother.  The second book picks up with Liz accepting a case from a newcomer to town, a woman who is the doppelganger of Marilyn Monroe and the "Bombshell" of the title.  That’s not where the resemblance ends, either.  Calista was born fifty years to the day after Marilyn was born; she was baptized with the same birth name, Norma Jean Baker.  She married at sixteen just as Marilyn had, and to a man with the same name.  This isn’t coincidence:  Calista’s mother and adopted aunt are convinced she’s Marilyn’s reincarnation and helped arrange some of these events.  Finally Calista had enough and fled to make a life for herself—one that started with changing her name from Norma Jean to Calista.

Now the anniversary of Marilyn’s death is fast approaching, and Calista believes someone is out to see that she goes to an early grave too—especially after a friend of Calista’s is murdered and sleeping pills appear on Calilsta’s nightstand.

Is someone really out to do Calista in?  Or is this some sort of ploy? 

I hadn’t read Lowcountry Boil, but that didn’t deter me from the second book. Author Susan M. Boyer has done a good job with creating a lively series with a good sense of place and entertaining characters. Liz is a feisty fashionista and germaphobic  Southern Belle who knows her fashion designers as well as her firearms.  Coming back to Stella Maris has been good for her, as she tries to recover after the break-up of a bad marriage. Trouble is, she’s attracted to her former brother in law, Nate, and the feeling is mutual.  In fact, Nate has turned up to help with her investigations, much to the dismay of Michael, Liz’s high school crush.  Michael has gone through a break-up of his own, and he’s ready to settle down with Liz and raise a family. Michael also takes a dim view of Liz’s dangerous profession.

Others are much more supportive.  In addition to Nate, Liz has help from her brother who works in law enforcement, and a godmother with a touch of second sight. 

Then there’s Colleen, a former classmate of Liz’s who became former not by graduation but by suicide.  Now she’s become a sort of guardian spirit for Stella Maris, watching over the town and paying Liz an occasional visit.

 I hesitated about mentioning the supernatural elements for fear it would make people think this was a just escapade in which Our Heroine only solves the case via unearthly means.  On the contrary, most of the detecting is good old fashioned research with some slightly shady surveillance (okay, more than slightly shady, but they do it so well!) thrown in. The psychic hints are vague enough that they’re easy to ignore.  Ghostly Colleen is in the background for most of the book, but comes through twice for Liz although neither intervention was obvious to me at first.  However, I have to say that I find her to be one of the most intriguing characters.  On one level, she’s still the old high school friend but on another she’s a spirit with a mission—someone who is seeing a bigger picture than the humans around her.

Add to the mixture Liz’s parents, especially her father who knows just what buttons to push to get his little girl to come by and see him, the mandatory friendly diner and waitress, and a few other colorful characters make this a fun book that doesn’t stoop to slapstick.  There are a few steamy romantic moments, some nice lines I want to try to remember to use (“She has too many pots on the stove” instead of “too many irons in the fire”), and an interesting plot. I was also impressed by the references to various Marilyn Monroe biographies that Liz refers to as she tries to unravel the mystery.  In fact, she made the biographies sound enticing, so I may want to read those, too.  Kudos also to Boyer for a love triangle which is a good deal less contrived than some.

In short, Lowcountry Bombshell is an enjoyable mystery with an interesting premise and solid characters.  

Full Disclosure: I was sent a copy of the book in hopes I would review it.  This did not influence my review.

Win a copy of Lowcountry Bombshell!  If you would like to win, please leave a comment at the end of the review. The deadline is October 30, with a winner selected on Halloween! US entries only, please; I’m sorry to say the library budget doesn’t extend to international shipping.

 

Lowcountry Boil by Susan M. Boyer

Reviewed by Doris

The Low country of the South has been the setting of choice by a bunch of authors over the last ten years or so. Rich with Southern tradition and legend the area  offers Dorothea Benton Frank, Katherine Wall, Mary Kay Andrews, and Carolyn Hart—among many other authors—a great setting for mystery, romance, and crazy families. Susan M. Boyer’s Lowcountry Boil adds to the genre in a very good way. A first novel, Lowcountry Boil is a lively read with both appealing characters and enough plotting to keep you guessing until the end.  Hopefully Ms. Boyer will use this as a jumping off point for a series of books featuring this crew of characters.

Boyer’s main character is Liz Talbot. Liz’s family has always been on Stella Maris, an island just off the South Carolina coast. Led by her grandmother Emma they have helped protect the island from over-development and commercialization. Liz believed she would marry Michael Devlin—scion of another island family—and live happily for the rest of her life on her island paradise. Then, Michael betrays her and she flees the island to try and forget her first love. Liz marries then divorces when she is again betrayed by her conniving husband, but she does find a career she loves. She and her former brother-in-law set up their own detective agency. Liz discovers she is very good at being a detective and handsome Nate--the former brother-in-law –-is a great friend and all-around great person. While she misses her family and she still pines for Michael, Liz is happy with her job and life. In the middle of big case Liz’s sister Merry calls and tells Liz Emma is dead. For Liz that means returning to Stella Maris, reuniting with her crazy family, and finally confronting her lingering feelings for Michael.

The whole Talbot family is, as we say in the South, a hoot. Merry manipulates Liz unbearably using her little sister status to maneuver Liz frequently and easily. Mama is the proverbial Steel Magnolia no one crosses, and Daddy is slick as either just a good ole boy or sly as a fox businessman. Much put-upon big brother Blake is the Chief of Police of Stella Maris and he is not thrilled his younger sister has returned to embroil herself in his investigations. When Liz realizes her grandmother was murdered and she confronts Blake, he confesses he knew it was murder from the beginning and they have to figure out t who killed Emma and why. The plot thickens and twists to include a hateful cousin who is married to old love Michael, a ghost of Liz’s best friend who helps her solve the case, the slimy ex-husband, and a man who has been dead for twenty-five years.

I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the whole Southern flavor of the book was fun. The cast of characters on the island are just as eccentric and funny as Liz’s family even though they are just a tiny touch stereotypical Southern. The one thing I don’t understand is why Liz hasn’t taken Nate and wrapped him up in a big red ribbon as a gift to herself, but I suspect that may come in future books.