Reviewer: Connie Payne
Title: The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club - Debutante Dropout Mystery #3
Author: Susan McBride
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 0-06056-408-3
Release Date: February 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Mystery
Year/Setting: Present/Dallas
Overall rating: 4.5
Sexual content rating: none
Susan's Website:
www.susanmcbride.com
Susan McBride starts us off by putting us into the mind of one of the murder victims moments before she’s offed. That in itself is an attention getter.
However, without that glimpse, we might just think, as Andrea, "Andy", Kendricks does, that her mother, Cissy, is slightly off her rocker. Both deaths were supposedly due to natural causes, but Cissy, a Dallas socialite, knows these women and there are just some things that don’t add up "naturally".
Cissy is determined to solve the case, with or without Andy’s help. And while Andy thinks she’s barking up the wrong tree she needs to stick like glue to her mother to keep her out of trouble. A difficult task to say the least.
But soon, Andy sees there are things don’t add up and realizes maybe her mother was right; something was going on at Belle Meade, the posh retirement village where the victims had lived. It’s not long before she begins to put the pieces together. Hopefully she’s not too late...as her mother may be in danger.
Susan McBride writes more than run of the mill mystery. She’s seasoned it by showing us an evolving relationship between socialite mother and debutante shoulda been. It’s spiced with loyalty and friendship, humor and frustration, a splash of intrigue and some undercover work.
The dialogue is sharp and witty, the prose clear. The characters, while a bit (well a lot) off the wall, are fleshed out and play very well off each other. I only wish there hadn’t been so much set up of the story before we got to the clues and the undercover work (how fun it was!).
From time to time I did feel as if I were missing something, and I probably was because this is the 3rd book in the Debutante Dropout Mystery series. But the book does stand alone without the need to read the first two in the series. However, why not go ahead and pick up Blue Blood and The Good Girl’s Guide To Murder and see what other trouble Andy and her mother, Cissy, have gotten into.
The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club is well worth reading. It’s clever, fun, intriguing, and sharp. Susan McBride has found a permanent place on my TBR list!
Connie
Question or comment regarding the review or the book? Click here and let Connie know.
Top
Reviews
Featured Reviews
Archived Reviews