Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Padlock Mystery Press
Release Date: 2004
ISBN: 0974331627
Awards:  
Format Reviewed: Paperback
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Genre:   Crime [Contemporary, Oklahoma]
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Rachel A Hyde
Reviewer Notes:  
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Deadly Redlands
By M E Cooper

    Following on from Deadly Patterns (also reviewed on this site) Detective Sergeant Christine Penney is back for another tale of murder and quilting. Enid is mounting its Redlands Indian Festival, and the town is awash with visitors. Amid all this activity a young man is found hanging in a hotel room. Suicide or murder? Chris is convinced that it is the latter, for the dead man was half-brother to one of her quilting friends who says that he wouldn't have done it. Soon, Chris has uncovered several reasons for the man to have been murdered, and plenty of suspects. Can she find the killer before her chauvinistic partner Macdonald, and can she fend off her friends' matchmaking schemes which all seem to end in disaster?

   One thing I enjoy about cozy crime is that there is such an emphasis on a good plot and entertaining characters. You won't find blood 'n' guts or downbeat "realism" in here but you will find a real page-turner. Chris herself has graduated from being a rather bitter divorcee to enjoying the company of her new country friends. Her problems seem very real and I applaud the way the characters are allowed to grow and change while leaving the basic framework of the series intact. There is a love interest in there this time, but in the background, leaving plenty of room for a proper crime story. This is a real feelgood book with lively characters and a tortuous puzzle of a plot to unravel. You will also find some quilt blocks, a few Native American recipes, and various snippets of information about both, which might not have anything to do with crime, but have everything to do with this being a well-rounded story. I certainly hope that there will be a third.