November Hunt

January 23, 2012
Set in Battle Lake, Minn., Lourey’s seventh cozy featuring PI wannabe Mira James (after 2011’s October Fest) successfully combines humor, an intriguing mystery, and quirky smalltown characters. Mira, who supports herself by work at the local library and as a food columnist for the community newspaper, welcomes the chance to investigate the death of Tom Kicker, a prominent businessman who was shot in a hunting accident, in return for a significant fee and much needed experience. Mira’s sleuthing is the epitome of amateurish, but Lourey manages to make her awkward efforts endearing rather than embarrassing. The author also deftly presents a dark possible motive for Tom’s death without introducing a jarring note. Providing support and comic relief is Peggy McMillian, whose inspirational aphorisms (“Don’t give the Devil a ride and expect him to wear his seatbelt”) have been collected in a book titled A Penance for Your Thoughts. Agent: Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency.

February 1, 2012

Tom Kicker dies in a freak hunting accident, but aspiring PI Mira (October Fest) learns Tom had a dark secret that probably led to his untimely death. Seventh in this engaging series.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2012
Mira Jameslibrarian, columnist, and almost-licensed private investigator for the small town of Battle Lake, Minnesotafaces one of her most puzzling mysteries when two longtime friends go deer hunting and only one comes back alive. Not even the fact that it's cold enough to freeze the smile off a clown stands in the way of Mira's investigation. Unfortunately, the more Mira unearths, the closer she gets to being the next victim. A cast of delightfully zany characters, some familiar from earlier books in the series, enhances the story: Mira's best friend, Mrs. Berns, the feisty, octogenarian cougar; Kennie, the gaudily dressed mayor, who sells vitamins that make Mira's hair thicker but give her methane-strength breath; and Peggy, the popular author of religious aphorism books, who hires Mira to help her find her lost mojo. It's not easy to make people laugh while they're on the edge of their seats, but Lourey pulls it off, while her vivid descriptions of a brutal Minnesota winter will make readers shiver in the seventh book in her very clever Murder-of-the-Month series (September Fair, 2009; Octoberfest, 2011).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)