Old Faithful Murder - Softcover

Wolzien, Valerie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449147444 ISBN 13: 9780449147443

Publisher: Fawcett, 1992

Synopsis

The Henshaw family vacation at Yellowstone National Park turns tragic when George Ericksen -- whose family has been befriended by the Henshaws -- is found murdered at the foot of Old Faithful. When amateur sleuth Susan Henshaw takes the case, a web of twisted emotions and buried secrets quickly unfolds, and Susan finds that everyone had a reason to kill George. But there can only be one killer . . . can't there?

About this title

From the Publisher

Although I now live in New York City, there's a lot I can identify with in Valerie Wolzien's mysteries. Valerie's portraits of small towns and suburban communities remind me of my youth -- and I suspect they strike a similar chord with all those readers who live (or used to) far from urban centers. Also, Valerie's novels are like comfort food in a way -- because they are, in part, celebrations of holidays and happy social occasions (weddings, birthday parties, family vacation trips) . . . plus the mandatory addition of homicidal doings. Valerie is now writing two series with two different amateur sleuths -- suburban housewife Susan Henshaw (MURDER AT THE PTA LUNCHEON is her first appearance) and businesswoman Josie Pigeon (who started solving murders in SHORE TO DIE). I heartily recommend anything Valerie Wolzien writes.

--Joe Blades, Associate Publisher

From Publishers Weekly

Susan Henshaw's family winter vacation in Yellowstone National Park is quickly overwhelmed by the Ericksen clan's reunion at the same snowed-in hotel. When an effigy of domineering Grandfather Ericksen is thrown into a geyser and the curmudgeon himself is murdered, Henshaw is called upon to play amateur sleuth. Soon another body--that of the gay lover of one of the Ericksen sons--is found frozen in the snow. What follows is a genre mystery with a myriad of flaws. The Ericksens are portrayed as a dysfunctional family, and so readers must suffer through pages of psychobabble. And although a storm's stranding the guests in the park without police assistance is plausible, why should housewife Henshaw run the investigation when a park ranger on site has police training and another guest is a former police detective? Nor does Wolzien ( We Wish You a Merry Murder ) do Yellowstone justice; she uses the isolated winter wilderness as a plot device but neglects to use it for texture. Finally, the motivations she ascribes to the killer are contradictory: having killed ostensibly to keep a favorite family member near, the murderer is willing to let that relative go to prison as the fall guy in the murders.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fawcett
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0449147444
• ISBN 13: 9780449147443
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 10