Customer Reviews

Brewing Up a Storm

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I have read all Emma Lathen's books and have just finished this one. It is fun, but I missed some of her usual characters - Tom Robichaux, Everett Gabler and Walter Bowman in particular. However, the plot was tight and altogether a good read

This yarn tells the story of an anti-beer activist, Mrs. Maddie Underwood. Mrs. Underwood (never referred to as "Maddie" except by her sworn enemies) is the leader of NOBBY, a group that seeks to prevent underage drinking. At the beginning of the story, NOBBY is engaged in a lawsuit in which the parents of a teenager who died after imbibing are suing Kischel, the producers of a non-alcoholic beer their son was fond of. They accuse the company of wrongful death because they, with NOBBY's backing, argue that Kischel's near-beer led to developing an addiction to stronger stuff. At the same time, congressional hearings about the implications of non-alcoholic beer sales to minors are being held, and Underwood wants to use these hearings to further her cause and that of her organization. The problem is, Underwood is a batty, self-centered, and thoroughly unsympathetic character. By the time the author finally gets around to murdering her, you will have long been ready to do the same yourself- -if you haven't given up on the book entirely by then.

After Underwood is put under, the story finally begins to pick steam. There are a few clues to help us determine who did it. By the way, this is a John Putnam Thatcher mystery. If you haven't read other books in the series, then you may wonder who in the world this Thatcher is, and why Lathen goes to such pains to give him bit parts early on in the book. Through his trivially tangential links to the case, Thatcher develops enough interest in the murder by the end of the book to solve the crime through deductive reasoning so that he can point the police in the right direction to make an arrest. This is a complicated book with numerous plot-threads that will try the patience of all but the most devoted Thatcher fans.

I thought there were too many characters and the story rambled on over the same ground. In addition, this story had too little emphasis on high finance which is always my favourite area. I felt after I read it that this story could have been about widgets and it would have made no real difference.