The
Unraveling of Violeta Bell
A
Maddy Sprowls Mystery
C.
R. Corwin
Poisoned
Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-501-1 (1590585011)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-501-6 (9781590585016)
Publication Date: April 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Newspaper librarian Maddy Sprowls never gives story
ideas to the editors at The Hannawa Herald-Union. She prefers to stay
in the “morgue” and do her job, and hopes the
editors stay in the newsroom and do theirs. Then one Saturday she sees
four elderly women get out of a taxicab at a garage sale. Those women
must hire that cabby every week, she figures, to drive them from garage
sale to garage sale while they search for treasure. And
wouldn’t that make a great feature story for the paper?
Monday morning she runs straight to the newsroom with her idea. Shortly
after the story runs, one of the four women is murdered - retired
antique dealer Violeta Bell.
Maddy wants no part of the investigation. But before she knows it
she’s on another of her infamous snoopathons. And, good
gravy, enjoying every minute of it. Was Violeta Bell murdered by one of
the other garage sale ladies? Former striptease artist Kay Hausenfelter
perhaps? Or real estate agent Gloria McPhee? Or eccentric
philanthropist Ariel Wilburger-Gowdy? Or was it Eddie French, the
scruffy cabby with a police record as long as his arm? And what about
Violeta’s claim that she was the rightful queen of Romania?
Any truth to that?
Review:
C. R. Corwin's third mystery featuring Maddy "the Morgue Mama" Sprowls,
The
Unraveling of Violeta Bell,
finds the newspaper librarian investigating the murder of an elderly
antiques dealer.
Every Saturday at 8 AM sharp, a cab picks up a group of four elderly
women who takes them on the rounds of garage sales in the area. These
"Queens of Never Dull" pose an interesting human interest story, or so
believes Maddy, who suggests such a story to her editors. The women
eagerly agree to an interview, and what a diverse group they are. One
is a wealthy widow who was once a strip-tease artist, another is a real
estate agent, a third is married to the owner of a pest control
company, and the last, Violeta Bell, the self-appointed leader of the
group, is the retired owner of Bellflower Antiques. But Violeta
actually believes she is a Queen, a member of the royal family of
Romania. Just days after a story of the group is published, Violeta is
found murdered, shot three times at close range. What threat did this
old woman pose that someone found it necessary to kill her?
The
Unraveling of Violeta Bell is
an engaging, delightful mystery. Maddy, at the tender age of 69, still
thinks she is, and acts like, a teenager: stubborn, opinionated, and
sassy. When the ladies' cab driver is arrested, Maddy's editor-in-chief
asks her to investigate. He has a circuitous family relationship with
the driver but believes him to be innocent. Maddy quickly learns that
Violeta led something of an active double life, the Queens of Never
Dull were certainly not dull themselves, and Violeta's antiques were
far more modern than she claimed. Though suspects abound, Maddy finally
narrows down the list and creates a shrewd trap to identify the culprit.
Witty, clever, humorous, and genuinely entertaining, The Unraveling of Violeta
Bell is a real treat for
mystery lovers. It is highly recommended.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Unraveling of Violeta Bell 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 The Unraveling of Violeta Bell? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
The
Cross Kisses Back
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), November 2003
ISBN-10: 1-59058-074-5 (1590580745)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-074-5 (9781590580745)
Dig
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), November 2005
ISBN-10: 1-59058-203-9 (1590582039)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-203-9 (9781590582039)
The Unraveling of Violeta Bell
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), April 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-501-1 (1590585011)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-501-6 (9781590585016)
Omnimystery
keywords for The Unraveling of
Violeta
Bell ...
Location(s) referenced: Ohio.
