A Little Learning by Jane Tesh, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Artist and private investigator Madeline Maclyn has married and settled down in the small town of Celosia, North Carolina, but her next case captures her imagination when she looks into a suspicious death and a puzzling will in A Little Learning, the third mystery in this series by Jane Tesh.

Madeline has set up an artist studio and office in her home, and her new husband, Jerry, a schemer and con man who has promised to go straight, works part-time at the local bookstore. It's all very quiet and peaceful. That is until a veteral schoolteacher, Amelia Lever, hated by fellow teachers, students, parents, even her own sons, drops dead of a presumed heart attack. Madeline, being the private investigator she is, decides to take a closer look. Meanwhile, the nephew of a recently deceased man hires Madeline to look into his uncle's will. A substantial inheritence would be given to the first person who could solve a puzzle the man had devised. The problem is: the puzzle is missing, or maybe, finding the puzzle is part of the puzzle itself. Imagine Madeline's surprise when she finds the puzzle among the late Amelia Lever's effects. Now the two cases have a solid connection, but in what manner remains a mystery.

The title, A Little Learning, has multiple meanings here. The characters are initially presented in one light only to find, after a little learning, they are actually quite different. The investigation itself requires a little learning, as does the puzzle that links Amelia's death and the old man's will. A Little Learning has a compelling plot and a surprisingly moving backstory that keeps the reader wondering how it will all turn out.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Little Learning.

Acknowledgment: Poisoned Pen Press provided an ARC of A Little Learning for this review.

A Hard Bargain
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), January 2007
ISBN-13: 9781590583548; ISBN-10: 159058354X

Mixed Signals
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2012
ISBN-13: 9781464200618; ISBN-10: 1464200610

A Little Learning

A Madeline Maclin Mystery by Jane Tesh