Different
Paths
A
Stella Crown Mystery
Judy
Clemens
Poisoned
Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-300-0 (1590583000)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-300-5 (9781590583005)
Publication Date: September 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): When Stella’s friend and veterinarian Carla
Beaumont is car-jacked it’s just the beginning of a rash of
vicious attacks on local business women. A truck driver, minister, and
personal trainer are next in line for vandalism and theft, but the
community is shaken to the core when the kind-hearted Dr. Peterson is
found murdered in her office.
Stella, worried that she and her farmhand Lucy might be next in line,
takes it upon herself to find the connection between the victims --
something other than their gender. Who knew about these women enough to
go after them? It seems obvious that someone is targeting specific
leaders in the town, and Stella makes it her job to track down the
killer and get the good Detective Willard to stop the violence.
Meanwhile, Stella’s boyfriend, Nick, joins her on the farm
when he hears of the danger surrounding her. Will he, with his newly
diagnosed MS, be able to protect her? And does she even want him to?
It’s hard enough that Nick’s younger sister hates
Stella and what she represents, but will that be able to keep them from
making the decisions about the future?
As Stella investigates she finds much that doesn’t seem right
in her usually quiet town. Between her suspicions of steroids at the
local gym, irate patients at the doctor’s office, and
Carla’s brand-new boyfriend, Stella’s not sure
which way to focus her attention. But she knows she must -- before any
more women die.
Review:
Women working in positions historically held by men, including a close
friend of dairy farmer Stella Crown, are being targeted by an unknown
assailant in rural Pennsylvania in Different
Paths,
the fifth mystery in this series by Judy Clemens.
The loves of Stella's life include Nick, her boyfriend who has recently
been diagnosed with MS, her friends, her cow farm, and her Harley bike.
But trouble has once again come to her picturesque little town. Dr.
Carla Beaumont, the town’s veterinarian and Stella's close
friend, is brutally beaten and her truck containing medicines hijacked.
Reverend Katherine Hershberger, recently hired over a male candidate,
as the minister of a Mennonite Church, finds her office ransacked, and
many papers and icons destroyed. Dr. Rachel Peterson, a local physician
taking over her retired father's practice, is found murdered in her
office with cabinets opened and papers trashed. Stella believes the
actions are related and is concerned that she, being a woman farmer,
could be next on the list.
The police, however, are going under the assumption that drugs are
involved. But since the attacker showed aggression against the female
minister, Stella believes her impression of the events is more logical.
Though Nick arrives from his home in West Virginia to help protect her,
Stella isn't sure that's enough. So she sets out to find the assailant
before he, or she, can do any damage to her, her farm, or the two women
who help her run it.
An obvious suspect is Carla's new boyfriend, Bryan. Stella thinks him
devious and mean and more than capable of committing the crimes. But
how can she investigate Bryan without offending Carla?
Stella Crown is a delightful, clever, and endearing amateur sleuth, and
Different
Paths is at its heart a story
of close friendships in a small community and how important they are
during good times and bad. It's also a story of love and hate, and how
one can love yet also hate. It's both funny and sad, and, by the way,
it's a very good mystery.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Different Paths and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Different Paths? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Till
the Cows Come Home
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), April 2004
ISBN-10: 1-59058-082-6 (1590580826)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-082-0 (9781590580820)
Three
Can Keep a Secret
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), July 2005
ISBN-10: 1-59058-184-9 (1590581849)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-184-1 (9781590581841)
To
Thine Own Self Be True
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), August 2006
ISBN-10: 1-59058-298-5 (1590582985)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-298-5 (9781590582985)
The Day Will Come
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), August 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-299-3 (1590582993)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-299-2 (9781590582992)
Different Paths
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), September 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-300-0 (1590583000)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-300-5 (9781590583005)
Omnimystery
keywords for Different Paths
...
Location(s) referenced: Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
