Cold Front: A Tory Bauer Mystery [Paperback]

Kathleen Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tory Bauer Mystery | Publication Date: October 1, 2000

Death is a Party Pooper

Waitress Tory Bauer is good at dishing out food and dishing out gossip. Now it's her steamy secrets that are being dished out all over town. But it's New Years Eve in tiny Delphi, South Dakota, one of the few fun dates on the local calendar. And, bad-mouthed or not, Tory's determined to have a good time partying down. . .even if it kills her! As it turns out, she's not the one who doesn't make it beyond the stroke of midnight.

Suave and handsome Ian O'Hara had only been in town less than a day when his trip was abbreviated by his untimely murder. During his few fateful hours in delphi, however, he had managed to make several "love connections"--including one with Tory's roomate, Del. With pretty much the whole town nursing January 1 hangovers, ever-inquisitive Tory is ready to start her new year off right by hunting down a lothario slayer. But it's the killer's resolution not to get caught. . .and Tory might just be amateur sleuthing herself into an early grave!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Delightful" -- -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

'I'll visit South Dakota any time Troy Bauer's around as a guide." -- -- Miami Herald

About the Author

Kathleen Taylor was a contributing editor for several crafts magazines, and when not writing, she works on crafts. She has lived all her adult life in Redfield, South Dakota with her husband.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Avon (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380812045
• ISBN-13: 978-0380812042
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,308,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathleen Taylor is a writer, spinner, knitter, wife, mother, and grandmother. She has written six Tory Bauer Mysteries, and five knitting books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Reader Treat, October 24, 2000

By 

"pclibrary" (Gettysburg, South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Front: A Tory Bauer Mystery (Paperback)

Taylor's South Dakota mysteries are a combination of good writing, good stories, and good characters. Her subjects - life, love and death - are what the best novels have always been about. She skillfully encapsulates an entire world of humanity and emotion in one tiny town in South Dakota.

In COLD FRONT, during a blizzard on New Year's Eve, overworked, overweight, forty-something waitress Tory Bauer just might be "amateur sleuthing herself into an early frozen grave."

COLD FRONT is the 5th in the series. If you want to read them in order, begin with FUNERAL FOOD (originally titled: THE MISSIONARY POSITION). The second is SEX AND SALMONELLA. Third is HOTEL SOUTH DAKOTA. Fourth is MOURNING SHIFT. Like her characters, Taylor lives in a small South Dakota town.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As always - very enjoyable!, October 9, 2000

By 

suzatm (PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cold Front: A Tory Bauer Mystery (Paperback)

I think one of the highest compliments to an author is for someone to say they would buy any book the author wrote even if it was hardback. That's what I have to say about Kathleen Taylor. Her books are wonderful and even if there wasn't a mystery involved, I would read her books just for the pure fun and enjoyment of visiting with the residents of Delphi, South Dakota. From the very first book, Sex and Salmonella, Kathleen Taylor gained an avid follower by her humor and her ability with words which enabled you to picture Delphi and its inhabitants so clearly. Her characters are people you find yourself laughing and crying with and for. Closing the back cover of the current book, you find yourself eagerly looking forward to her next. Cold Front was just as good as her first through fourth books! My only criticism is that things between Neil and Tory are going so slowly! Other than that, I would highly recommend this author and I hope there will be many more books to the series!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tory and Kathleen Get Better With Each Book!!, December 18, 2000

By 

delta (Memphis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Front: A Tory Bauer Mystery (Paperback)

Love, love, love this book and the whole series. I am going to be very strict and tell you to run and read the other books before reading this one if you have not already. Some series do not require reading in order. This series does. Start with Funeral Food/Missionary Position and go on to Sex and Salmonella..though for some wild reason S & S is the only book in the series OUT OF PRINT!! And hard to find. But it's well worth it, so keep digging until you find it. The only thing i am mad about is that the book is over and I have to wait countless months for the next one. I kept spreading it out and making it last.

The writing is very clever in all the books, but I think Kathleen Taylor hit her biggest stride with Cold Front. The writing rocked. Even the chapter titles were too clever. She does a lot of literary takeoffs I really like. Tory is always asking herself what Miss Marple would do, so there's one chapter called WWMMD! Then there's the Terrible Awful No Good Very Bad Day chapter. And Little House Trailor on the Prairie! Love It!! Her writing is so hilarious..when talking about one townsperson and how out of snyc she was acting, Tory was mulling it all over and could only come up with one solution-pods in the basement.

I love all the townspeople-Stu the philander, Ron the blinker, Del the cranky nympho roommate, Aphrodite the cook, Neil the librarian-my new hero, Junior the uptight control freak cousin.

And throughout all the books, Tory keeps telling the reader, now if this was a REAL mystery, you would not be putting up with this or we would have already have solved the mystery etc. A nice touch.

Read these wonderfully funny books.