Death and the Crossed Wires (Five Star First Edition Mystery) [Hardcover]

Linda Berry (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Trudy Roundtree, of the Ogeechee, Georgia, police department, is on the case when youth pastor Josh Easterling is electrocuted just before he is to baptize 16-year-old Crys Cleary. Crys disappears, believing she is a jinx because all those who have cared for her have died (her parents, her boyfriend, her pastor), and she wants to protect her grandfather—all she has left. Trudy convinces her cousin, police chief Henry Huckabee, that these deaths may be connected, so with his permission, she delves into the past to try to find the link that will bring a murderer to justice while trying to locate and protect Crys. The case also causes Trudy to resolve some issues in her own life. Well-drawn main characters, quirky secondary characters, humor, and agreeable slices of small-town Georgia life add to this sixth in a series that will appeal to those who enjoy The Andy Griffith Show and Joan Hess’ Maggody novels. --Sue O'Brien

Product Details

• Hardcover: 267 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME) (March 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594147477
• ISBN-13: 978-1594147470
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,784,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars engaging small town Georgia police procedural, March 28, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death and the Crossed Wires (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

The Ogeechee Baptist Church in Ogeechee, Georgia (population 3,000), has the flock excited that sixteen year old Crys Cleary is being baptized by the youth pastor Josh Easterling; even her grandfather Howard, who raised her, but is not noted for going to church, attends the ceremony. However, something happens and Josh falls into Baptistry. Bobby Turner takes charge of the scene until the EMT and cops respond. Josh is dead having been electrocuted by the microphone.

Police Chief Henry "Hen" Huckabee leads an investigation into what initially looks like a tragic accident. However, Officer Jerome Sharpe learns from his relative, an electrician that someone tampered with the device. The murder investigation makes no progress until Hen's cousin Officer Trudy Roundtree suggests looking at the deaths of the teen's parents and boyfriend.

This is an engaging small town Georgia police procedural in which the case goes nowhere beyond proving a homicide and not an accident occurred until Trudy persuades Hen to change the focus. The story line is action-packed but it is the cast starting with the police officer cousins, their family especially his mom-her aunt (no comment on nepotism), and the rest of the unit and the Ogeechee Baptist Church members that make the tale fun to read. They bring alive the eccentricity of a small town in which everyone seems to know everyone except someone has the dark secret of being a killer. The latest Hen-Trudy investigation (see DEATH AND THE FAMILY TREE and DEATH AND THE WALKING STICK) is an enjoyable Southern fried (literally) whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Policewoman Uncrosses the Wires, December 30, 2009

By 

E Bennett "Explorer" (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death and the Crossed Wires (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Life in a small Georgia town turns mysterious once again in the latest of policewoman Trudy Roundtree mysteries. This time the setting is a church, and suspects range from a clergyman to parishioners! Through determination and initiative, Trudy wends her way among clues and questions. As usual in Linda Berry's writing, the setting and the characters make this book more than a mystery, bringing to life a place the reader wants to visit over and over.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Southern style, October 3, 2009

By 

Suzanne Young (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death and the Crossed Wires (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Another action-packed story of murder in Ogeechee, with Linda Berry's usual humor and deft plotting.