Customer Reviews

Dead Men Don't Lye (Soapmaking Mysteries, No. 1)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Benjamin Perkins, eldest son of a large family who own the boutique Where There's Soap, finds the dead body of one of their suppliers sprawled at the bottom of the back stairs of their small business. Ben's sister Louisa, who had been dating the deceased Jerry Sanger but recently found out he had been two-timing her, becomes the police's prime suspect in the murder. At the request of their mother, Ben investigates Jerry's murder on his own in order to clear his sister.

The very entertaining mystery is interspersed with information on hand-making soap. Ben's role in his family store is teaching classes, and throughout the book the author shares information on melt-and-pout soapmaking, the easiest type of soap-making for the home hobbyist. This soapmaking information added to my enjoyment of the book. Another fun thread to the story is Ben's love life, as he tries to juggle relationships with his sometimes girlfriend Molly, who is the policewoman in charge of the case, and a new love interest Kelly, a new lawyer in town who's representing his sister Louisa.

Author Tim Myers has written two other series, both set in North Carolina as well. I've read most of the books in the other series, and I found that Ben Perkins and his family were the most interesting characters in any of Myers' books. Sharp-eyed readers will notice references made by the characters in "Dead Men Don't Lye" to Myers' other series. Just another fun twist in the story.

I'm looking forward to more stories in this series, and I highly recommend this book to all cozy mystery fans.

Having read Myers' previous series, each of which features post-feminist kinda guys, even I was unprepared for the mama's boy who is the "hero" of this creampuff. I have assumed that "Tim Myers" is a pen name for a woman--at least, I hope it is, because I cannot imagine the man who could identify with, let alone create, Ben, the series protagonist. Where to start? Let's see. Ben's 30+ and works in a family business. OK, no problem there. One does wonder, though, about a 32-year-old who still brings his laundry home for mommy to wash and dry. Or who investigates a murder not out of a sense of justice or because he is driven to find the truth--not our Ben. Mamma tells him he must--so he does. Ben is a soapmaker by trade, and his work fits him exactly--soft and insubstantial. He is surrounded by strong women--the police chief, his lawyer girlfriend (whom he invites out to dinner and then lets her pay. I guess Mom shorted his allowance.), his zillion sisters, and, of course, over half his suspects. He also has a passle of brothers, not very well devloped characters, although one does point out that Ben read Nancy Drew as a child. Hmmm. But in this family, that's normal. One of the brothers (could have been the same one) is also reading one of Myers' other series--the Harrison Black one--calling it "cool." I'm sorry, but do men really read this stuff? I think not.

The answer to the mystery comes to Ben in a dream in which he is terrorized by big, scary plants. Somehow it all fits that this boyo would be petrified by immobile objects.

The big mystery here, as in the Harrison Black (candlemaking) series, is how so many marginal one-item stores manage to stay in business. In "Dead Men Don't Lye" there are three shops dedicated to hand-made soap within spitting distance of one another. Perhaps folks where Ben lives get extra dirty.

I love cozies and read them pretty much without discrimination, but this one makes Laura Childs read like Mickey Spillane. So, if you are like me and enjoy cozies--do read this one in the spirit in which it was I suspect written: parody.

As the eldest Benjamin Perkins watches out for his siblings and mother and is the troubleshooter for the family owned specialty shop, "Where's the Soap?" Upon leaving the store, Ben finds a corpse on the backstairs of the shop. He recognizes the victim as the soap supplier to their store and the squeeze of his sister Louisa.

Louisa had just learned that her Jerry was stepping out on her, which led to a very public spat so Ben insists she retain a lawyer before he calls the police because she had a motive, a means, and an opportunity. He calls his police friend Kelly to help them but she is not soft on her pal's family. She intends to identity. the culprit even if it turns out that the prime suspect Louise actually committed the murder. Ben is as determined if not more so to find the real killer as he believes his sister is innocent.

So far Tim Myers has produced three successful amateur sleuth series in which each tale is an exciting entertaining cozy. His latest winner as always has the violence offstage; yet without any graphic detail readers can picture the results of lye placed on a face (think Phantom of the Opera). The family members are likable and seem genuine especially with their relationships, but this who-done-it belongs to the sleuthing pair Ben and Kelly.

Harriet Klausner

In the 1st book in the Soapmaking Mystery series, we are introduced to Benjamin Perkins, one member of the large Perkins clan who runs a specialty soap shop in North Carolina. All seven siblings work together in the shop, Where There's Soap, and support each other in the different stages of their lives. Ben, like several of his siblings, is single and finding it difficult to find love. But nothing quite compares to the disastrous love life of his sister, Louisa, whose boyfriend is found murdered on the back steps of their soap shop! The police immediately suspect Louisa, as she had recently discovered her boyfriend, Jerry Sanger, was unfaithful to her with several other local women. Led by their mother, the Perkins family beseeches Ben to poke around in the case, and to assist in their investigation. He investigates possible suspects along with his occasional date and police detective friend, Molly Wilkes, and also with his new potential love interest and lawyer, Kelly Sheer. Working with the help of the two women in his life, Ben works hard to discover the killer before his beloved sister is locked up for good.

I have read and really enjoyed the candlemaking mystery series that is also written by this author, and was excited to try this one as well. I was disappointed in the first installment, however, and found that it didn't have the same flow or easy dialogue as I found in that series. I found a lot of the back and forth dialogue between the Perkins siblings to be a bit strange and distracting, and found Ben to be a somewhat effeminate character. I think the series has potential, however, and will read the next installment before deciding whether to continue with future books or not. If you like cozy mysteries, I would definitely try the candlemaking mysteries by this author starting with the book, At Wick's End.

The next book in the Soapmaking Mystery series is called "A Pour Way to Die". Enjoy!

I enjoyed this book. The characters are not well developed, but they are pleasant to read about.

This book has got to be the worst-written mystery ever. The plot itself is so-so (once you get past the idea that a small town has three soap stores in it), but the characters are one-dimensional and their relationships with each other are paint-by-number. Every so often the author gives a perfunctory nod to the fact that it's supposed to be a mystery and mentions the crime or the policewoman (for whom the narrator clearly has zero respect, despite their on-again off-again relationship). I'm not even going to give this book to my mother to read. I couldn't bear for her to waste her time reading it.

Harrison Black is an orphan; Ben Perkins is part of a large extended family. There's the difference between this series and the candlemaking one. Both guys are single 30-somethings who give artsy-craftsy lessons for a living - in the same town! Ben appears to be slightly huskier, but I cannot get a distinct, separate picture of each. Sorry, but it was really tough for me to buy into this series as more than a weak copy of the other. A strange differentiation occurs here in that Ben's case is covered by the local policewoman, whereas Harrison's are investigated by the Sheriff's Office.
SPOILER ALERT ...
The culprit here turned out to be roughly the same as in Harrison's latest, with an age/gender change: Instead of an older male "minding the shop for absent owner" we get a younger female "minding the shop for absent owners." How close is that!

I put the book down for a moment, shook my head, and mumbled, "The author shouldn't have done that!" when Ben's brother says he wants to get home to read the new "mystery about a candle shop" (p. 192). I wondered whether there was an editor at all after reading the following (p. 211): " ... all the people I'd put through the ringer [sic] over this case."

I will buy the next Harrison Black installment. If there is a sequel to this one, I would read it only as a library book; wouldn't even be worth buying a cheap used copy for something so insultingly derivative. I give it two stars because it could stand on its own without the other series, though not as well.

Thinking this to be another of the candle-shop books, I picked it up. Oh, well. It was a fun read anyway. To be sure, I did raise an eyebrow at the mention of the candle shop, but since it was an anonymous mention, I didn't think all that much of it.

Ben Perkins, being the oldest son of a warm and loving family is quite a different character from the orphan of the candle-shop, in my opinion, and the details of the shop and the soap-making are fascinating. Who wouldn't want to know all the whys and wherefores involved if, in the course of your daily job, you stumbled over the very dead and somewhat mis-treated corpse of one of the suppliers to your business? Especially if that supplier had been dating your sister? Seems reasonable to me.

All the red herrings were firmly in place, with a lot of interesting new folks yet to meet in this new series by Tim Myers. One thing is absolutely for certain, however. Tim creates the most appealing, clever and sometimes humorous names and concepts (or themes) for stores and businesses that I've come across in some time. He makes Harper's Landing into a very comfy place to live and work.

Ben's widowed Mom is a tad pushy, but after raising seven kids, I guess she's entitled to be just that. But still, I think she's pushed them all in the right direction, even if only two of them are married so far. Let's see, that leaves at least five more books to come - one in which to get each sibling a mate - oh! and then two more, so that Mom and Grandpa (who didn't appear here) can acquire `friends' of their own.

The townsfolk are an interesting bunch, as well. The next book in the series will be along in a couple of months, and I'll be watching for it.