The Anteater of Death
A Theodora
"Teddy" Bentley Zoo Mystery
Betty
Webb
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-560-7 (1590585607)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-560-3 (9781590585603)
Publication Date: December 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): But if Lucy, the pregnant Giant Anteater from Belize,
didn’t kill the man found dead in her enclosure, who did?
California zookeeper Teddy Bentley must find the real murderer before
her furry friend is shipped off to another zoo in disgrace.
Then another human bites the dust, the monkeys riot, and the wolves go
nuts. Things get worse when the snooty folks at Gunn Landing Harbor
attempt to evict Teddy from the Merilee, her beloved houseboat.
That’s just the beginning. Her father, on the lam from the Feds
for embezzling millions, gets targeted by a local gangster; and Caro,
Teddy’s socialite mother, a former beauty queen who loathes
Teddy’s dangerous job, starts introducing her to “eligible
bachelors.” But Teddy has already given her heart to Sheriff Joe
Rejas, a migrant worker’s son. Caro is not pleased.
Zoo life, animal lore, and the leaky ups and downs of Central Coast
California houseboat living create a thrilling backdrop for murder.
Review: Betty
Webb has penned a creative and fun mystery in The Anteater of Death, the first in
her Zoo Mystery series. On the lighter side, the book has good humor
and some laugh-out loud funny lines. I hadn’t realized a zoo
would make such a fabulous setting for a mystery, and Webb clearly did
her research, taking advantage of all the atmosphere a zoo offers. We
learn about monkeys, wolves and giant anteaters in general as well as
individual critters such as Makeba, a giraffe who gives birth to a
healthy baby; Cisco, the alpha male wolf; and Carlos, the magpie jay
who, for some unknown reason, wants Teddy for his avian mate.
Teddy, a wonderful protagonist, has a down-to-earth attitude, a
generous heart and a love of animals. Dumped by her ex, she struggles
with the idea of getting involved again, especially with Sheriff Joe
Rejas who broke her heart in high school. Or was it just that her
mother (“don’t call me mother, it’s too age
specific”) shipped her off to finishing school in Virginia. Her
mother, Caroline (Carol) Piper Bentley Mallory Huffgraf Petersen, I
lost track of the number of husbands, wants Teddy to be more like her
so they can go to the spa together, shop and double date, an idea that
makes Teddy shudder. She has a love-hate relationship with her
over-protective mother who tells her to quit her job every time
something happens at the zoo. So the dead body in the anteater’s
pen has Carol all riled up.
Teddy vows to protect not only Lucy, but also someone else who the
police have wrongly accused of the murder, and she’ll do just
about anything to that end, even dating the smarmy zoo director.
Remember that generous heart I mentioned?
Webb paces the novel beautifully, dispensing details judiciously, so we
don’t learn too much too quickly. She writes vivid descriptions
and strong characters, many of whom I’m sure we will get to know
better in future books. I haven’t read Webb’s Desert
series, so I can’t make that comparison but The Anteater of Death sits high on
my list of series to follow, right up their with Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series. I look
forward to reading the next Zoo Mystery tale as soon as possible.
Special thanks to Katherine Petersen for contributing her review of The Anteater of Death and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Katherine Petersen — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission
Have you read The Anteater of Death? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
The Anteater of Death
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), December 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-560-7 (1590585607)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-560-3 (9781590585603)
Omnimystery keywords for The Anteater of Death ...
Location(s) referenced: Central coast, California.
