Delectable Mountains

This Christian mystery follows a police chief's wife as she tries to unravel the threads of murder, theft, and an apparent suicide. Beneath its blatant preaching, the story does offer a decent crime plot. Johanna Parker's soft voice suits the genre, although she sometimes blurs the characters of Chief Gabe Ortiz and his wife, Benni Harper. Others, however, receive clear differentiation, particularly children of white, black, and Latino heritage. Parker nails the accents without over-performing them and avoids making the children sound squeaky and stupid. Her gentle voice presents the rest of the lessons as if in a Sunday school classroom, albeit without the condescension present in many Christian performances. R.L.L. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 18, 2005
No wonder Benni Harper fans are so faithful—the woman can't even stay out of trouble in church. At the start of Fowler's topnotch 12th cozy to feature the quilter and amateur sleuth (after 2004's Broken Dishes
), Benni stumbles on the body of church handyman Walt Adams, who's oozing blood onto the sanctuary's new carpeting. Who would hurt a sweet old caretaker? On the other hand, what did anyone really know about Walt's past? Both the policemen in Benni's life—her Latino hunk hubby, Gabe Ortiz, and Ford "Hud" Hudson, who'd love to be more than her friend—warn her to leave the detective work to the professionals, but as usual, Benni leaps first and thinks later. Between Walt's murder and the disappearance of a valuable violin from the San Celina, Calif., folk museum, Gabe and Benni have their hands full. The surprise visit of Gabe's long-estranged cousin, Luis, adds to their difficulties, as he and Gabe seek to work through their differences, and Benni seeks to referee. Gabe's reluctance to open up to Benni propels the three-year Ortiz-Harper union into some rough waters. A heart-hammering hostage situation leads to a highly unexpected ending, while most readers will approve of the almost-but-not-quite-resolved Benni-Hud relationship. Agent, Ellen Geiger.