Skating Under the Wire

August 26, 2013
Charbonneau’s fourth mystery featuring roller rink owner Rebecca Robbins (after 2012’s Skating on the Edge) relies heavily on the eccentricities of her cast of characters, including Rebecca’s spandex-loving grandfather and her con man photographer father, to carry the simplistic and somewhat implausible plot. Deputy Sean Holmes is willing to tolerate Rebecca’s amateur sleuthing as she looks into the annual Thanksgiving break-ins in Indian Falls, Ill., because of her successful record, but her snooping quickly becomes entangled with both the investigation of the murder of beloved senior Ginny Chapman by an insulin overdose and the machinations of her friend Danielle’s mother-in-law-to-be, who doesn’t like Rebecca’s involvement in the planning of Danielle’s wedding. For all their over-the-top antics, Rebecca’s friends and suspects come off as basically nice smalltown folk in a cozy that’s cute rather than uproarious. Agent: Stacia Decker, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Starred review from October 1, 2013
Who would kill a sweet, elderly nursing home resident? That's just one of the problems Rebecca Robbins has to solve now that she's decided to remain in her hometown of Indian Falls and continue running her mother's roller rink. As her friend Danielle's maid of honor, Rebecca must help make sure everything runs smoothly for Danielle, a former exotic dancer who's marrying a minister with a bossy mother. At Danielle's bridal shower, Rebecca's former high school teacher asks her to take a paying job solving the series of Thanksgiving break-ins that have plagued the town for 11 years. Rebecca's grandfather, an Elvis impersonator, thinks that she's perfect for the gig since she's already solved several crimes since moving back home from Chicago (Skating on the Edge, 2012, etc.). Certain as she is that Deputy Sean Holmes will have nothing good to say about her continued sleuthing, Rebecca can't turn down her teacher. When the body of Ginny, a nursing home client, is found, the police write it off as a natural death, but the autopsy shows she was given a fatal shot of insulin. Although Rebecca's beginning to gain some respect for the father who deserted her, their history makes it difficult to commit to her boyfriend, Lionel, a hunky vet for large animals who dreams of marriage but disapproves of her sleuthing. Run down by a car, Rebecca escapes serious injury but realizes that she must be close to exposing either a murderer or a thief. When she sets a trap, she can only hope she won't be the one caught in it. The fourth entry in Charbonneau's amusing series is her best, combining the usual quirky characters with more romance and a surprising denouement.

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