In Want of a Knife

July 23, 2018
The death of 17-year-old Janice Root in an apparent hit-and-run on a road outside Bear Falls, Minn., propels Buzzelli’s unconvincing third Little Library mystery (after 2017’s She Stopped for Death). Janice, who helped her family sell peaches at the family fruit stand, was found wearing an odd, old-fashioned dress. When 16-year-old Camille Otis, another innocent girl, disappears soon afterward, people worry that Cammy, too, may be dead. Local author Zoe Zola, who’s writing a literary study of Jane Austen; Zoe’s neighbors Dora Weston and Dora’s daughter, Jenny Weston; and Jenny’s sometime boyfriend, Tony Ralenti, join forces to follow Cammy’s trail and to learn whether her disappearance and Janice’s death are connected. Meanwhile, a rich man from Chicago offers to give Bear Falls substantial funds to endow anything of their choosing, setting off a frenzy among the town’s residents. Series fans may enjoy the literary allusions, but others will be dismayed that certain characters act in ways that undermine their credibility and that the Jane Austen subplot has no relevance to the main action.

July 1, 2018
When a young woman is found dead on the side of a road and a second goes missing in Bear Falls, a quiet town on the shores of Lake Michigan, a local author turns sleuth.The death of Janice Root is considered a hit-and-run even though she's found in an old-fashioned white dress, not her regular clothes, until the autopsy shows she was asphyxiated. Zoe Zola, who has dwarfism, is the smartest person in town, a published author whose latest work in progress on Jane Austen is giving her a giant headache. Zoe's friends and next-door neighbors former librarian Dora Weston and her daughter, Jenny, have learned to put up with her grumpy moods, although Jenny has problems of her own: She's not sure where her life is headed despite her relationship with retired cop Tony Ralenti. The second biggest story in town is the arrival of wealthy Fitzwilliam Dillon, who's built a grand mansion on the lakeshore and plans to give the town $2 million for a project yet to be determined. Fitz is a dwarf who gets off to a bad start with prickly Zoe, but Jane Austen's matchmaking parents have nothing on the mothers of Bear Falls, who consider Fitz and members of his entourage perfect husband material. Only when Cammy Otis, who's a little slow and loves to wander in the woods, is reported missing does Zoe become involved. A major search turns up only the clothes Cammy was wearing. While the townspeople squabble over the best project for Fitz's gift, Zoe wracks her brain trying to find the connection between Janice and Cammy. Hope fades as time passes, but Zoe refuses to give up.Buzzelli's well-developed characters (She Stopped for Death, 2017, etc.) are the stars of the show in a complex tale that tips more than a hat to Pride and Prejudice.

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August 1, 2018
After teenager Janice Root is found dead by the side of the road wearing an old-fashioned, dirty white dress, her classmate Camille Otis disappears. When it is clear that Janice was murdered, ex-Detroit cop Tony Ralenti, who retired after being shot in the line of duty, offers to help Bear Falls, Michigan, Police Chief Ed Warner investigate. Tony is joined in the investigation by his drifting, unsettled girlfriend, librarian Jenny Weston, and by almost-famous writer, little person Zoe Zola, who have helped solve previous crimes. They feel there must be some connection between the two girls, but what? Meanwhile, wealthy, boorish Fitzwilliam Dillon and his entourage have moved to Bear Falls, and Fitzwilliam has offered to donate $2 million to his new town, leading to divisiveness among the townspeople as well as anxious mothers eager to marry off their daughters to the newcomers. Adding to the appeal is a vivid portrait of small-town life; quirky, well-drawn, but rather distant characters, especially Zoe; as well as a claustrophobic deep-woods setting; and even a Jane Austen connection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)