Run a Crooked Mile
A Rosemary Mendes Mystery
Janet LaPierre
Perseverance Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-880284-88-X (188028488X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-88-9 (9781880284889)
Publication Date: April 2009
List Price: $14.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): After her husband's death, Rosemary Mendes flees her
home on the California north coast and fetches up, more or less by
accident, near the small town of Weaverville in Trinity County. There
she buys and remodels a small house, becomes a volunteer at the local
senior center, makes a few friends. And is keeping herself and her
background quietly and peacefully to herself when she finds that her
grasping former in-laws have tracked her down.
She's still trying to decide what to do about this unpleasant
development when her young neighbor informs her that another solitary
incomer had just been found dead in the surrounding forest, apparently
shot by a deer hunter. "Anyway, the interesting thing... nobody knows
who to tell, who her relatives are, like that. She's—she
was—a mystery woman." Just like Rosemary, was clearly Kim's
inference.
The image of that woman, Michelle called Mike, haunts Rosemary's
thoughts for the rest of the day. When her veterinarian friend Graham
Campbell arrives that evening for their usual Friday-night dinner, he
brings not only wine, but a big yellow Labrador retriever named Tank.
Tank, he explains to Rosemary, was with his owner, Mike Morgan, when
she was shot, and was grazed himself. And now he's depressed and
homeless. "Gray, I do not want a dog," says Rosemary firmly.
But not firmly enough. Tank stays, and Rosemary becomes known as the
person who has Mike Morgan's dog. Tales of the dead woman come to her
from nearly everyone she encounters, and she finds herself pursuing
them: who was Mike Morgan and why was she here? It's a pursuit that
becomes more and more engrossing—and more and more dangerous.
Review:
Janet LaPierre introduces Rosemary Mendes, a woman looking to start a
new life in the wooded hills of northern California following the death
of her husband, in Run a Crooked Mile.
Two women have actually come to the area to find refuge from their
past. Rosemary feels the need to retreat from her overbearing, greedy
in-laws who insist they are entited to a part of their deceased son's /
brother's estate. The other, Michelle "Mike" Morgan, though, is enigma
to the community. She, together with her Labrador retriever Tank, lived
in a small cabin surrounded by abundant acreage in the woods that she
had inherited from an elderly gentleman for whom she had taken care
since her arrival. Though hunting was not permitted on her property,
she is shot by a hunter presumably mistaking her for a deer. Some of
the townsfolk thought she got what she deserved as they believed she
had cheated the old man in his dying days. Others questioned the
accident theory and believed someone had wanted her dead. Although
Rosemary and Mike were strangers to one another, Rosemary is given
"custody" of Tank at the request of the local veterinarian. Rosemary,
intrigued by the mysterious circumstances surrounding Mike's death and
feeling in no small part an obligation to Tank, starts to investigate.
She convinces the police to reopen the case and goes along to help find
clues that may have been missed. But someone is out there watching --
and waiting -- for an opportunity to silence Rosemary.
Run a Crooked Mile is
not only a carefully plotted and suspenseful mystery, it is also a
beautifully told account of two passionate women and their struggle to
find peace after personal misfortune. Though they never met, both women
are able to share the love and companionship of the delightful dog
Tank. Every page of this wonderful book is a page well read.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Run a Crooked Mile and to Perseverance Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Run a Crooked Mile? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Run a Crooked
Mile
Perseverance Press (Trade Paperback), April 2009
ISBN-10: 1-880284-88-X (188028488X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-88-9 (9781880284889)
Omnimystery keywords for Run a Crooked Mile
...
Location(s) referenced: California.
