Death For Dessert [Hardcover]

T. Dawn Richard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 159414060X | ISBN-13: 978-1594140600 | Publication Date: September 2, 2003 | Edition: 1

Here's a wry, witty, cozy mystery in the tradition of Carolyn Hart's "Henrie O." mysteries, featuring a feisty senior sleuth who finds blackmail and a mysterious death at the senior-citizen complex she just moved into. In an effort to clear her name, May teams up with a goup of flimflammed, wildly wicked seniors to solve the murder and recover their dignity and their money. Death for Dessert will have cozy readers cheering for this new mystery heroine and riveted to the very last page.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A highly recommended first mystery that is being compared to Carolyn Hart's Henrie O stories. For cozy fans."
-- Library Journal (September 2003) (Library Journal )

Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Five Star; 1 edition (September 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159414060X
• ISBN-13: 978-1594140600
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,293,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Side-splitting!, October 2, 2003

By 

curvynovelsdotinfo "[e-mail]" (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death For Dessert (Hardcover)

Heroine: plump

After thirty five years of marriage to her surgeon husband Ted, May Bell List finds herself traded in for a series of silicone sylphs. So after a brief but satisfying vendetta, she sets out across country in Ted's "STUD DOC" '68 Camaro convertible and winds up taking an apartment in a California Active Seniors center.

And wasn't she sorry that she signed that lease?

As soon as she moves in, May Bell finds herself surrounded by odd neighbors: inedible-cookie-baking-queen Ida, owl-eyed-walker-wielding Fanny, Mr. and Mrs. "loud-Mariachi-music-in-the-pre-dawn-hours" and their little yapper of a dog Paco, "I've got Viagra" Grady, and senile part-time nudist "Bob 'What What?!'". Not to mention Mrs. Berkowitz, a scary fruitcake of an old hag who seems to have an eerie hold on the other members of the living complex. She stares at May Bell as if she knows all her deepest, darkest secrets; then begins to taunt her with them, naming the unknowable aloud.

Is Mrs. Berkowitz psychic, psychotic, or both? It's up to May Bell to find out!

What worked for me:

I gobbled up "Death for Dessert" in one sitting. It was the funniest thing I've read in a while!

If nothing else, the messages I took away from this book were a) I'd rather be living alone with 23 cats in my blue-hair days than move into a retirement village and risk having neighbors like Mrs. Berkowitz and Bob What-What, and b) I should invest in Oil of Olay, stock and product.

Size-wise May Bell was plump, but lost a bit of weight worrying over her life.

What didn't work for me:

I've still got images of Bob What-What wearing some of his most revealing attire floating before my eyes.

Overall:

Engaging characters, clever prose, and fun surprises make "Death for Dessert" a do-not-miss for fans of quirky cozy mysteries!

Warning: there is some weight loss in this book.

If you liked "Death for Dessert" you might also enjoy the Odelia Grey mystery series, "The Southern Sisters" mystery series or "The Gumshoe Girls".

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take off your eye makeup before reading, March 17, 2007

By 

Nancy L. Smith "Puppyseed" (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Death for Dessert (Paperback)

This is The Funniest book I have ever read. Every chapter had me laughing so hard I was gasping not to say of tearing eyes. I am so glad I found T Dawn Richard this world needs more ladies like her the comic relief is priceless. The Best Entertainment Yet. I loved her characters and all the shenanigans of her gang Don't miss this book.
Nancy

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars amusing yet intriguing cozy, October 20, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: Death For Dessert (Hardcover)

Following her husband's desertion her for a younger model after thirty-five years of marriage, May List moves into the Active Senior Living Apartment Complex. She almost immediately runs afoul of her weird new neighbor Mrs. Berkowitz over a typewriter. Still she settles in only to find the place boring except for her nosy neighbor who knows thins about her no one should know.

When she buys a computer, Mrs. Berkowitz shows her how to use it. May leaves the Berkowitz apartment only to realize she inadvertently took with her some disks belonging to her neighbor. These contain blackmailing information that apparently Mrs. Berkowitz uses to extort money from other seniors. May confronts the other seniors and learns that it is true so she goes to challenge Mrs. Berkowitz only to find the woman dead. Tampering with the crime scene and delaying the calling of the cops, May searches for the identity of a killer when everyone detested the victim.

Although Mrs. Berkowitz may come across as a lowlife with no redeeming qualities, readers will enjoy this amusing yet intriguing cozy because of her human insight and schemes. The audience will see an assisted living facility from the inside and though well kept, the tedium takes a toll on the residents. Though it is never clear how Mrs. B attains her data even if it is implied that the computer is her source especially to May, fans of amateur sleuth cozies will enjoy this senior citizen investigative tale.

Harriet Klausner