DEATH'S FAVORITE CHILD

DEATH'S FAVORITE CHILD

By Frankie Y. Bailey
Silver Dagger Mysteries - October 2000
ISBN: 1570721467 Trade Paperback

Mystery / Amateur Sleuth

Reviewed by: Beverly Rowe, MyShelf.Com
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Lizzie Stuart, a n African-American criminology professor, lived with her grandparents in Drucilla, Kentucky for most of her 38 years.

Her grandfather has been gone for several years, and her grandmother recently died. Lizzie desperately needed to get away for a while. She decided to join her best friend Tess for a week in Cornwall. The English countryside would be a restful change of pace for her.

Tess's ex-husband contacted Lizzie and asked her to meet him at a museum in London on her way to meet Tess. Michael requested that Lizzie deliver a package to Tess, and on the way back from the museum, she's attacked by a mugger who seems to be after the shopping bag that Michael gave her. Lizzie is knocked to the ground directly in front of a bus, but manages to escape injury and keep the bag in her possession.

They stay in a small privately owned hotel. One morning Lizzie joins Dee, (a girl who works at the hotel, and is the niece of the owners) in an impromptu breakfast on a hiking trail above the beach. Dee suffers an allergy attack that quickly turns into anaphylactic shock. Lizzie runs for help, but it's too late; Dee is dead when she returns.

The police think it was murder. Lizzie may be next on the Killer's list. When Lizzie is confronted by the mugger from London while attending a play, she is sure that her life is in danger. Is the mugger connected with Dee's Death? How about Tess's ex-husband Michael? Lizzie has never liked him, and is sure that his motives for renewing his relationship with Dee are suspect.

A well done, exciting mystery with twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing until the very end. Well-rounded likeable characters, and some that are not so likeable.... and most of them seem to have a motive for wanting Dee dead, and maybe Lizzie.

Frankie Bailey has written non-fiction books about African-Americans and crime, but this is her first fiction book. Lizzie could be a wonderful series character. I'll be watching for more of Bailey's books.