Reviewer: Lori Graham
Title: Saints Preserve Us - Ash Lake Mystery #1
Author: Kathryn Lively
Publisher: Wings ePress Inc.
ISBN: 1-59088-857-X
Release Date: May 2003
Genre/Sub-genre: Romantic Suspense
Year/Setting: Current
Overall rating: 4.5
Sexual content rating: None
Kathryn's Website:
home.earthlink.net/~mklively
Who would want to take the body of a young woman from the cemetery where she has been buried for decades?
The body is Lorena Alger. Her family and the parish named after Lorena are in the process of having Lorena canonized by the Catholic Church for miracles that were attributed to her when she was alive. Lorena’s great-great-niece is Professor Ronnie Lord who along with her grandmother is on the committee organizing the canonization. That position is the one, which puts Ronnie in the position of receiving the phone call for ransoming the body.
Ronnie doesn’t want to pay any ransom for the body and is determined to discover who has taken the body and left the cemetery caretaker dead in the process. She is joined in the search by Lew Caperton, the sheriff of this sleepy locale that isn’t supposed to have big crimes committed. Every turn they take, however, is documented by a young reporter. Just how is he getting his information? To complicate matters, Lew used to date Ronnie’s sister, Gina. This makes him familiar with the family but how does Ronnie balance him dating her sister with her wanting to date him now?
In the meantime, the two body kidnappers hired to take and baby-sit the body while the mastermind works his magic are getting a bit unnerved by this body they are holding. They are advised to cut off her finger to send as proof they have her. When they open the coffin, they are overwhelmed with the smell of roses and the body looks as if it is still alive in spite of being buried for decades. Granted they aren’t the smartest of men but even they realize that something is different here.
Kathryn Lively wove a charming suspense with Saints Preserve Us. I enjoyed the very human, yet comical characters she created and how they worked together to create the story. Kathryn does a lovely job of setting up the town of Ash Lake and creating a place you would like to visit on your own. Then the twists and turns in the plot add a whimsical dimension to the story while adding enough suspense to keep you guessing. Whether or not you are Catholic, this book illustrates the human nature in a humorous way. I think we take ourselves too seriously sometimes and in reality we all do some things, which are a bit odd to others. Now I wouldn’t think of taking a body from a cemetery and holding it for ransom but…
I applaud Kathryn for giving me the opportunity to sit back and be entertained for a few hours with a bit of suspense, a bit of humor and a bit of romance. I am really looking forward to more in the series revolving around Ash Lake.
Lori
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