The Telltale Turtle
A Pet
Psychic Mystery with Mary Catherine Roberts
Joyce
and Jim Lavene
Midnight Ink (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7387-1226-4 (0738712264)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-1226-0 (9780738712260)
Publication Date: October 2008
List Price: $13.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Mary Catherine has a rare gift -- she can talk to
animals. A flamboyantly dressed four-time widow, Mary Catherine pulls
top ratings for her pet psychic radio show and helps run an animal
shelter. Then one day Mary Catherine hears pitiful thoughts of anguish
coming from a house. Rushing inside to help, she finds an injured
turtle crying bloody murder -- and the dead body of his owner, a
society matriarch with a fortune, lying nearby.
By tuning into Tommy the turtle's thoughts and memories, Mary Catherine
becomes a vital, if ridiculed, resource for the detectives. But now a
psycho caller is threatening the lives of Mary Catherine and Baylor,
her haughty and overprotective tabby cat, while dangling clues in front
of her like bait. Despite the annoying charms of PI Charlie Dowd --
aka, potential husband number five -- can Mary Catherine use her talent
to find a killer more cold-blooded than the star witness?
Review: Joyce
and Jim Lavene introduce Mary Catherine Roberts, a middle-aged,
four-times widowed (on the look out for number five), radio talk show
host who also happens to be a pet psychic, in The Telltale Turtle.
Mary Catherine has returned to her hometown of Wilmington, North
Carolina leaving Hollywood after the untimely death of her fourth
husband. Her aunt has died and left her run-down home that she has
remodeled, creating a veterinarian clinic/hospital on the first floor
and her residence on the second. When she begins her pet psychic talk
show on the local radio station she thinks her life is all-embracing.
Of course, she wouldn’t mind maybe seeking out a fifth husband to
make her life complete. On her show, she offers worried pet owners
advice on how to make their animals happier and easier to get along
with. Her own pet, Baylor, a sizeable orange-colored tabby cat, helps
her in the more perplexing situations.
When Mary Catherine finds a murdered woman, the wealthy aunt of her
station manager Colin Jamison, more men enter her life than she’s
willing to handle. A mysterious private investigator, Charlie Dowd,
becomes an unwanted side-kick. She can’t figure out if he is
investigating her or digging up proof of an affair Colin may be having.
Bernie, a homeless handyman with a goat, shows up and offers to make
repairs on her home, in exchange for a place to keep the goat. Buck
Maybelle, owner of Meaty Boy Dog Food, is not only fond of Mary
Catherine but wants her to take his company on as her sponsor. These
characters all intertwine throughout the mystery of the murder of
Colin’s aunt, killed with the broken bowl of her injured turtle.
Although the authorities have identified Colin as their prime suspect,
the turtle somehow convinces Mary Catherine that someone else killed
Colin’s aunt. Will Mary Catherine be able to prove this before
she herself becomes a victim of the unknown killer?
The Telltale Turtle is a
riotous, imaginative story with of a most unusual woman as the lead
character. The reader never knows who, or rather what, Mary Catherine
will speak to next and the personalities of the various animals are a
treat unto themselves. The mystery isn't demanding, and the whole
concept may be a bit far-fetched for some, but it does provide an
interesting twist on the standard cozy.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Telltale Turtle and to Midnight Ink for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Telltale Turtle? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
The Telltale Turtle
Midnight Ink (Trade Paperback), October 2008
ISBN-10: 0-7387-1226-4 (0738712264)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7387-1226-0 (9780738712260)
Omnimystery keywords for The Telltale Turtle ...
Location(s) referenced: Wilmington, North
Carolina.
