Reviewer: Connie Payne
Title: Skating Around the Law - 1st in the Rebecca Robbins Mystery series
Author: Joelle Charbonneau
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-62980-9 (Hardcover)
Release Date: September 2010
Genre/Sub-genre: Cozy/Romantic Mystery
Year/Setting: Present day, Indian Falls Illinois
Overall Rating: 4.0
Sexual Content Rating: None
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None/Very Mild
Violent Content Rating: Minimal
Joelle's Website: www.joellecharbonneau.net
Let’s see. Where to begin…
Well, Rebecca Robbins was back home to sell the roller rink, the Toe Stop, she inherited from her mother. She had slight feelings of guilt about selling but her life was in Chicago now. True, life as a mortgage broker wasn’t overly glamorous for her, however, it was a life outside of Indian Falls.
In and out, that was the plan.
Ha!
Finding Mack, town jack-of-all-trades, dead in one of the rink’s bathrooms can dampen anyone’s plans. What’s a girl to do when the sheriff would rather dig around in his flower beds than dig up a murderer? Poke her nose into places the townsfolk thinks she oughtn’t.
You didn’t think she’d chuck it all and head back to Chicago, did you?
Rebecca’s nose takes her to the local hairdresser, an old and dear friend of her mom’s, as well as the town’s cat lady, the local vet (yum yum!) who inherited something, too, a circus camel (Elwood), and that’s to start with.
She’s sure to wrap the case up and hand the perp to the sheriff in no time at all.
Yeah, and whoever thinks that may just be one wheel short of a roller skate. ; - P
Things don’t always go as planned, do they dear reader? If you had a grandfather who wanted in on the action (other than the extra-curricular action he was getting – waaaaay more than she was), living in a town where the gossip hot-line was a-fire more often than not (the whole town knew who she questioned and what was asked practically before she was finished!), and vandalism directed toward her…Well, you get the picture I’m sure. It’s understandable if not frustrating that her plans of in and out just skated out the window!
Plans aside, she does learn some interesting things. Mostly about Mack, but also the hmmm kind of info pertaining to certain townsfolk. Hopefully the interesting tidbits will help Rebecca close her first and only case so she can skate on back to Chicago. And I’m sure you understand that she’d rather skate to Chicago than up to the Pearly Gates.
A debut? It hardly seems so with the chuckle-out-loud humor, charm, off-the-wall characters, and baffling intrigue. What you have is a romantic cozy that seems to have come from a veteran author.
I loved the eye-rolling sarcasm and wit that naturally oozed from Rebecca. Her yes and no interaction with Lionel (the vet) bubbles. The relationship she has with her grandfather is unique to say the least; let’s just say he’s a hoot and quite the ladies man as well as endearing, all at the same time.
I believe romance and romantic cozy readers alike will thoroughly enjoy Joelle’s debut. This reader is hooked!!
Keep writing fun and mysterious adventures for Rebecca, Joelle! You made it to my fav authors list! : - )
Happy reading!
Connie
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