Customer Reviews

Delectable Mountains

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Earlene Fowler's Books stand out because of the relationships of her characters. This book gives you so many insights into her regular cast of characters that this alone is worth the read, but this book really surprised me. I had several things figured out pretty closely and then she threw me completely. By the end I found myself tearing up on the plane as I read the end of the book.
Hud, Gabe, everyone else show us new facets of their characters and the new characters are the keys to a lot of this. One character I really hope to see more of in up coming books. The mystery is a good one, it held a surprise I didn't see coming but as always, the real gift of these books is the time spent with characters who have become like friends over the years. This was a great addition to a wonderful series. I won't go over the plot here because other reviews will and I don't want to know that much before I read it, just if it was a good read, this is a very good read.

In San Celina, California Benni Harper has her hands full as the wife of the chief of police, curator of the local folk art museum, attending two church committees and being a participant for the heritage walk. Yet when her grandmother Dove asks her to help put together the children's church musical of Pilgrim's Progress she is unable to tell the woman who raised her no. At the same, Benni has unexpected company when her husband Gabe's cousin, Luis, drops in unexpectedly.

Surprisingly, Benni has life under control until she finds the dead body of the church custodian Walt Adams. She notices immediately he was murdered by blunt force trauma to the head and nobody knows why the man who was kindness itself was murdered. Shortly thereafter, a valuable violin that is exhibited in the church is found to be a forgery. The original instrument is worth over a million dollars. Between the robbery and the murder Gabe has his hands full with Benni conducting her own parallel investigation because she thinks the two crimes are linked. Little does she know that before the perpetrators are revealed, she will put her own life at risk to save the innocents who are in harm's way.

Earlene Fowler has written another exciting Benni Harper mystery but DELECTABLE MOUNTAINS is extra special. Readers, used to seeing Benni's thoughts, get inside the psyche of Gabe who must cope with two major crimes, a hostage situation, his wife's sleuthing, and the volatile relationship that exists between him and his cousin. The mystery is very cleverly designed so that it is impossible to figure out what is really going on even though there are solid clues sprinkled throughout the exhilarating storyline.

Harriet Klausner

This was another great offering from Earlene Fowler. The ending was a total shocker for me...always a good thing in a mystery! The characters were just wonderful - the little girl, Angelina is so sweet. I was actually hoping that she'd be a recurring character, but it looks like she won't. But the characters and plot were fantastic as always! Definitely worth a read - and of course you need to go back and read all the ones before it!

The cover of this mystery novel by Earlene Fowler is very appealing and draws the reader inside to find out more about its contents (notice the Delectable Mountains quilt pattern incorporated into the cover). Fowler is now a seasoned author with a dozen books under her fingers. Her protagonist, Benni Harper, the folk museum curator and amateur sleuth, once again finds herself mixed up in a murder investigation. It seems someone has whacked the custodian of San Celina's First Baptist church, one Walt Adams. Benni is the one who finds him, and, as usual, the question is, why Walt?

The story opens with Gramma, Dove Lyons, volunteering the two of them to take over directing the church's children in a production of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. However, this very adult work has been adapted as a children's musical play by the church's music director, Lily Sanders, and is to be this year's Christmas holiday offering. Lily has suddenly been called away on a family matter and will be gone for some time. It's early November and there is no time to waste in getting the children ready for the show.

Benni is married to hunky police chief, Gabe (Gabriel) Ortiz, and there's lots going on in their relationship, the second marriage for each. When Gabe's look-alike cousin, Luis Ortiz, suddenly appears on the scene, things start out okay, but, eventually, Luis's presence creates serious anxiety in Gabe. Add to that Benni's involvement in the Walt Adams business, and the plot begins to get pretty thick.

This book is easy to read and I would even suggest it for teens. It is not a gripping mystery. In fact, the mystery sometimes seems incidental to the stories of the lives of the book's many characters. However, it is well-written and fluid. (I don't usually mention editing errors because they exist in almost every book I read, including my own. This one, however, has more than the usual number, including two incidences of two words being repeated [ex., the thing the thing]. Finding such errors is what editing staffs are for and I would expect, after this many books by Fowler, her editors would make certain the copy was a clean as possible before printing).

Carolyn Rowe Hill

This installment of the Benni Haper series is the best in a long while. The author has found her stride again and Benni is in top form this time around. I loved revisiting the characters and could not put this one down. An awesome read for fans.

Earlene Fowler has done it again! In my book (no pun intended), she is fast setting the standard for amateur sleuth series. She has a way of being provocative without preaching, touching without being overly sentimental, and making readers want to come back again and again. This is one of the best in the series.

DELECTABLE MOUNTAINS is the twelfth book in the Benni Harper Mystery Series. The author always ties her story to a particular quilt pattern. Delectable Mountains gets its name from Bunyan's PILGRIM'S PROGRESS where the wonderful mountains were filled with flowers and fruit orchards. A large part of this story is about Grandma Dove and Benni taking over the direction of a play written for children. The theme for the play is a takeoff of PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.

Benni and Gabe have a guest when Gabe's cousin Luis surprises them with a visit. Benni, meeting Luis for the first time can't get over how much the two cousins resemble each other, both in looks and personality. Unfortunately, Luis is having marriage problems and to make matters even worse, he's also lost his job and seems very mixed up. Gabe has a difficult time in dealing with his cousin and Benni gets caught in the middle of an ugly situation.

This was not one of my favorite stories in this series, but it had some surprises in it and moved along at a good pace.

Once again, Earlene Fowler has provided her readers with a satisfying addition to the Benni Harper series. Unlike other series authors, Ms. Fowler hasn't grown bored with her characters and they continue to grow and evolve with each book.

Benni has been roped into helping her grandmother, Dove, with a children's church pageant and finds the body of the church handyman in the sanctuary. Benni feels compelled (as always) to find out the why and who behind the murder. During this time, Luis, her husband, Gabe's first cousin shows up for an unannounced visit. It becomes clear that there's something going on with Luis and Benni's efforts to help Gabe and Luis bridge their differences create tension in their marriage. We also find out more about Ford Hudson, the handsome sheriff's deputy, with whom Benni has a complex and charged relationship.

As is the case in her other books, Earlene Fowler deftly weaves the various stories together into a satisfying conclusion and leaves the door open for more adventures for Benni Harper. All in all a great read for anyone who loves well-written mysteries.

Earlene Fowler writes wonderful character based stories. The mystery story line is strong, but the true strength comes from the realistic human interaction populating her books. It is so refreshing to find characters who love family members while they struggle to live with them!

All our favorite characters are back and it's like reuniting with some old friends. You can read a synopsis of the book above but there is more behind the story itself. The relationships between various characters grow and change and will leave readers looking to see what the future holds for each character. I have loved each book in this series and look forward to more!