Reviewed By Liz

Today’s featured author is Gwen Freeman. Gwen is the author of MURDER… SUICIDE… WHATEVER, a humorous, traditional locked door mystery set in L.A. and peopled with quirky characters. It is the first book in the Fifi Cutter series and was nominated for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2006. Which is no surprise to me - I loved the book!

“When Bosco, my freeloading brother–make that half brother–showed up on my front porch, I should have followed my first instinct and slammed the door. But he said Uncle Ted had been murdered and there might be money in it for us. Truthfully? I didn’t even know we had an Uncle Ted.”

You can find Gwen Freeman on the web at http://gwenfreeman.com/book.html. You can read a sample chapter of MURDER… SUICIDE… WHATEVER and check out her next book, LIFE’S A TRIAL.

You can read Julia Buckley’s interview with Gwen at juliabuckley.blogspot.com . And you can read our review of MURDER… SUICIDE… WHATEVER here.

If you haven’t signed up for the Summer Mystery Reading Challenge yet, click here for directions. You are welcome to read along on your own, of course, but only registered participants are eligible for the prizes.

If you would like to comment on a book by a featured author or ask them a question, please leave the comment on their daily page so they can find it easily. Comments about what you are reading, books you have finished, requests for readalikes or recommendations, or mystery related links can be made on the SMRC post for that day so we can all see them. Thanks!

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

ISBN 978-0-425-21474-9

In DEADLY ADVICE, Dr. Rebecca Butterman is a clinical psychologist who keeps wondering what she could have done differently, what signs she should have seen that her next door neighbor was suicidal. Rebecca comes home one evening to find the police removing the body of her neighbor, Madeline, who has been dead for two days. Rebecca is filled with guilt and starts to question herself. When her neighbor’s mother asks for her help in proving her daughter didn’t kill herself, Rebecca is easy prey for her manipulation and is enlisted for the task.

What she discovers is that Madeline had an active and potentially dangerous social life. Rebecca combines her research for a magazine article on dating with her investigation of Madeline’s activities in the local singles’ scene. She is horrified by the chances that Madeline took and begins to question whether her death was actually a suicide. Madeline’s brother, the police, and Rebecca’s friends all try to get her to stop digging into Madeline’s life, but Rebecca is driven by guilt, mounting evidence, and a growing list of potential murderers.

A significant portion of DEADLY ADVICE is about psychology and therapy, which I was afraid might be grating, but didn’t turn out to be. Through Rebecca, Isleib (a clinical psychologist) imparts some interesting information about grief, loss, and divorce - all without sounding too preachy or overwhelming the reader. And she makes it a little funny, too, when Rebecca is having problems with her own therapist as she tries to sort out her feelings of abandonment. By the end of the book, the reader is left wondering if Rebecca mightn’t have more problems than her patients.

Unfortunately, this emphasis on the psychological aspect means that there isn’t as much plot development as I would like. Isleib develops an interesting list of suspects and motives, but no real evidence is unearthed and Rebecca stumbles across the identity of the murder instead of solving it. While this has become a popular ending technique, it isn’t very rewarding for the reader.

Favorite character? Harry the hopeful dater. Did I guess it? Yes. Will I read another? Perhaps. I am definitely going to try Isleib’s other mystery series about golf.

Mystery Book Reviews by Liz at http://reviewedbyliz.com ©2007

Available at Amazon!