The
House of Seven Mabels
A
Jane Jeffry Mystery
Jill
Churchill
William
Morrow (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-380-97736-2 (0380977362)
ISBN-13: 978-0-380-97736-9 (9780380977369)
Publication Date: August 2002
List Price: $23.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Homemaking is about to take on a whole new meaning for
Jane Jeffry now that she's agreed to help restore and redecorate a
decrepit old neighborhood mansion. The home's owner, the prosperously
divorced Bitsy Burnside, considers herself to be a feminist to the max
and wants an almost all-female crew to do the dirty work - prompting
the quick-witted Shelley Nowack to dub the project "the House of Seven
Mabels." With her best friend and decorating whiz Shelley on the
estrogen-heavy team, Jane thinks this exhausting, plaster-dusty job may
not be as unpleasant as it initially appeared to be.
Until, of course, things start to get very messy. It begins with a
series of mean-spirited "pranks" - strange odors, mysterious electrical
shorts, a myriad of petty annoyances designed to impede the progress of
the fixer-uppers. And then the pranks turn deadly, leaving one of the
workers lying lifeless at the foot of a staircase.
Tragic, yes, but an accident? Jane thinks not. And with the able
assistance of Shelley, not to mention a little help from her best beau,
Chicago detective Mel VanDyne, Jane's hoping she can construct a solid
case and nail the assassin. Suspects are certainly in abundant supply.
The surviving members of Bitsy's building brigade all had the
opportunity. Joe Budley - the contractor originally hired, then fired
when Bitsy had her "no men allowed" epiphany - had a motive. But the
more Jane saws away at the truth, the more complicated the criminal
blueprint appears. And she may be painting herself into a corner,
leaving no exit if a crafty killer decides to make Jane Jeffry the next
demolition project.
Review: The
House of Seven Mabels is the
13th outing for Jane Jeffry in Jill Churchill's long-running cozy
mystery series.
When the title of a book is more clever than the book itself, there's a
problem. It's not that The House of
Seven Mabels
is a poorly written or constructed mystery; it's just that it's so
predictable. The premise is promising, with Jane and her best friend
Shelley hired by hard-core feminists to restore and redecorate a local
mansion, but Churchill never delivers.
Fans of Jill Churchill and cozies in general will no doubt enjoy this
latest entry in the Jane Jeffy series, but those looking for any
originality in their mysteries should look elsewhere.
Special thanks to for providing of The House of Seven Mabels for this review.
Review Copyright © 2002 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The House of Seven Mabels? How would you rate it?
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A
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Omnimystery
keywords for The House of Seven
Mabels
...
Location(s) referenced: Chicago,
Illinois.
