Crypt Suzette

July 1, 2019
Halloween offers a caterer a plethora of jobs along with the obligatory murder. Val Deniston has adjusted to her move from a high-powered New York City job to her position as a cook/caterer while she lives with her grandfather Don Myer on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Grandad is a hoot to live with, and his jobs as a food reviewer and part-time detective provide endless possibilities for fun and murder (S'more Murders, 2018, etc.). When his friend Dorothy Muir plans to open a bookstore, she asks Val to cater a party for a grand opening and costume contest. Although Bram, Dorothy's techie son, isn't nearly as stoked, the party goes well, especially for the contestants for the costume prize, most of them members of the Fictionistas, a creative writing group started by Grandad's lodger, Suzette Cripps. Suzette takes the prize with her clever Moaning Myrtle costume. As a poor college student, she's thrilled to receive a gift certificate for books. But the next morning Suzette is found dead, the victim of a hit-and-run. Although the police think it's an accident, Val has her doubts. Suzette had quit a good job to work at a hotel, and she was secretive about her past. Both Val and Grandad go into detective mode, investigating both Suzette's past and her present job, which seems somehow questionable. Suzette's squabbling fellow Fictionistas are all suspects for various reasons. With some help from Bram, who turns out to be a lot nicer and better-looking than Val first thought, she winnows down the suspects in time for the denouement. The heroine's charms are just charming enough to keep this run-of-the-mill mystery interesting.

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