Synopsis
Thirty-four-year-old widow Benni Harper takes a job as curator of the San Celina folk art museum only to find herself embroiled in the murder of an artist and small-town intrigues that shed new light on her own late husband's death.
Reviews
Young, recently widowed Benni Harper, the foolhardy heroine in this predictable debut, leaves her ranch after her husband's accidental death and becomes the curator of the folk-art museum in the coastal California town of San Celina. Benni is frantically trying to assemble a quilt show when she discovers a local potter stabbed to death in the museum studio. Benni's flaky 21-year-old cousin Rita, whom Benni had seen driving away from the museum, disappears and becomes a prime suspect. When Rita calls asking for money, Benni determines not to tell the police, whose new chief, Gabe Ortiz, has warned her not to interfere in the investigation, and decides to clear Rita by finding the real murderer. The day that the quilt show opens, Benni finds a plastic bag filled with money in the attic of the museum but waits to tell Ortiz until after the opening party. When he goes to the attic to investigate, he finds, instead, the body of the museum handyman. Fowler connects all the deaths in her plot, leaving no threads hanging, but Benni's reckless actions and her love-hate relationship with the enigmatic Ortiz yield an unconvincing narrative. Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Benni Harper's first mistake as curator of the Josiah Sinclair Folk Art Museum is letting Marla Chenier use the pottery wheel in the museum after closing hours; that's what sets Marla up to get killed. Benni's second mistake, as her cousin Rita's sometime landlady, is to keep mum about seeing Rita leaving the museum just before Marla's body was discovered; that sets Benni herself up for a running battle with acting police chief Gabe Ortiz. Luckily, the mistakes don't matter: Marla's appetite for blackmail and other women's husbands would have gotten her killed one place or another, and Ortiz overcomes his hostility toward Benni long enough to ignite a very different kind of relationship--ignoring the fact that Benni's still mourning her husband Jack, victim of a fatal car crash only nine months before. Only Benni's grief, in fact, excuses her from not solving the low-grade mystery of her debut novel a lot sooner. Underneath the sadness, though, she's loose, friendly, and bright. Here's hoping we get to see more of her when she's not under such a cloud. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Benni Harper debuts in Fowler's neat little mystery set in the central California community of San Celina. Benni, a recently widowed rancher's wife, now serves as curator for the town's folk-art museum and overseer of the attached artists' cooperative. Just before discovering the body of one of the local artists the night before the museum's quilt exhibit is to open, Benni sees her own cousin leaving the scene. Despite the warnings of the local chief of police, Benni cannot help probing into the situation, especially when it seems that the murder in some way is connected to her own husband's accidental death some months before. Fowler depicts a small ranching community and its struggling ranchers with conviction, and her plot is compelling. Her character development could use some work--the subplot about the attraction between Benni and the local police officer comes dangerously close to clich{‚}e. All in all, though, this is a very promising first novel, presumably the first in a series. Keep a lookout for the next one. Stuart Miller
Albenia "Benni" Harper, a youthful widow, serves as curator of an impecunious folk-art museum in San Celina, California. Just as the deadline for a quilting exhibit arrives, she spots her cousin fleeing from the scene of a murder. Hastening to clear her cousin's name, Benni stays one jump ahead of police, at the same time learning disturbing facts about her husband's death. Hectic action (mostly driving hither and yon) and dialog accompany the amateur sleuth, who actually reads a how-to-be-a-p.i. book for assistance. The start of a promising new series.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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