Skating Around the Law

August 23, 2010
Roller skates and crime don't mix, or do they? In Charbonneau's fresh, funny debut they most certainly do. When Chicago mortgage broker Rebecca Robbins returns to her hometown of Indian Falls, Ill., to sell the roller rink she's inherited, she's dismayed to learn that handyman Mack Murphy has turned up dead, his head in one of the rink's toilets. A bottle of prescription pills on the floor near Mack's body suggests suicide, but medical examiner Doc Truman suspects murder, and the race is on to catch the killer. The colorful cast of eccentrics includes Rebecca's frisky grandfather, Pop, and Lionel Franklin, a sexy veterinarian who owns an especially entertaining camel named Elwood, a retired circus performer. Though she yearns to go back to Chicago, Rebecca ultimately realizes she might have to stay longer in Indian Falls, just in case a skating sleuth is needed. Author tour.

August 15, 2010

A country-born urbanite's return to the big city is delayed by murder.

Rebecca Robbins has come back from Chicago to Indian Falls, Ill., to sell the roller rink that was her mother's pride and joy. When she finds handyman Mack Murphy's corpse, his head in a toilet at the rink, her plans for a quick escape are shattered. The sheriff hopes for a verdict of suicide, but when the autopsy reveals a drug in Murphy's system that could have caused disorientation, Doc Truman votes for murder. Since the sheriff is more interested in gardening than sleuthing, Rebecca starts snooping around with help from her zany grandfather, who's suddenly become the town Romeo. A meeting with hunky veterinarian Lionel Franklin and his hat-wearing camel Elwood strikes sparks so strong that Rebecca has to remind herself that she wants to return to Chicago. Soon enough, the case heats up. Murphy had been acting very strangely recently, and his angry clients make excellent suspects. Rebecca starts getting threatening letters and flat tires, and the natives she's known all her life seem curiously eager for her to leave town. Even after her questions have turned up some of Mack's secrets, she realizes that picking the guilty party from a crowded field will be no easy task.

Funny and sexy, with a teasing mystery. Janet Evanovich fans will find Charbonneau's debut a good fix while they're waiting for Stephanie Plum's latest.

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October 1, 2010

Rebecca Robbins wants to sell the roller-skating rink she inherited and go back to Chicago. But a body found headfirst in the rink's toilet foils her plans, and Rebecca teams up with her frisky grandfather and a handsome veterinarian to solve a murder. VERDICT Featuring lots of small-town charm and humor, this quirky debut will attract cozy fans. [Library marketing.]

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2010
Rebecca Robbins has come home to Indian Falls, to the roller rink she inherited from her mother, intending to sell it and return to her life as a mortgage broker in Chicago. However, when she finds handyman Mack dead in one of the rinks restroom stalls, it puts a crimp in prospects of a sale. The sheriff prefers to concentrate on his gardening, so Rebecca decides its up to her to solve the case, which means delving into Macks secrets. She also has to deal with people in town who treat her as an outsider, with her sexually frisky grandfather, with a handsome hunk of a veterinarian and his retired circus camel, and with a boss in Chicago who thinks hes got dibs on her. Charbonneaus debut mystery has much that is familiar, with its small-town setting and hints of romance, but her quirky characters, the roller rink, and the side plot involving Macks secret business add fun touches. And, of course, readers will love Elwood the camel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)