Customer Reviews

Hey Diddle Diddle, the Corpse and the Fiddle (Callie Parrish Mysteries, No. 2)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Who would think that a bluegrass festival on a beautiful island with your best friend would turn out to be one of the worst events of your life?

While relaxing in the sun, Calamine L. Parrish (Callie) and her blind friend Jane were anxious for the music to start. But during the blessing something unexpected happened. One of the band members unzipped his bass case and Little Fiddlin' Fred tumbled out--dead. After this unfortunate and suspicious incident, things got worse. The bass player was found strangled. Then Blind Jane went missing and was presumed kidnapped. What in the world can happen next? Plenty, as it turns out.

One more quirky idea that fits this mystery is a chapter called "Chapter after Twelve." Callie explains that she refuses--for many reasons--to write a Chapter Thirteen. She feels that if rich folks who build fancy buildings think that elevators should go from the twelfth floor to the fourteenth, then thirteen must be unlucky.

Author Fran Rizer gives us lots of interesting characters like Rizzie Profit and the Gullah people. And places to feed our imagination--campgrounds, mortuaries, and cemeteries. But these are nothing compared to the crazy plots surrounding the solutions of all the crimes.

I recommend taking this book on vacation with you--unless you're going to an island to listen to bluegrass music.

by Doris Anne Roop-Benner
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I enjoyed this author's first Callie Parrish Mystery and found this one even better. I truly enjoy stories set in the south, especially mysteries that dip into local folklore and family dynamics that are typical of the region.
Callie is an appealing protagonist who exhibits characteristics we all can probably recognize in ourselves, both faults and strengths.
Having been raised in the south, in the mid-twentieth century, it is easy to settle into the story and feel that one has known these characters.

HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE, THE CORPSE & THE FIDDLE

Music and murder. What a combination!

I read Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Corpse & the Fiddle before my wife did and loved every reference to bluegrass, but then I'm a Bill Monroe fan, and my wife isn't. When I go jamming with my mandolin or to a festival, she sees a chick flick or does "girl things" with her friends.

Rizer's characters are so far out that it would be hard to make them real, but she does. Callie and her friends and family are believable. I felt like I knew them from the first book in this series and found them just as fascinating and genuine this time.

Callie takes her friend Jane to a bluegrass festival on a South Carolina sea island. The corpse of a dwarf fiddle player tumbles from a bass case on stage. Everyone in the audience saw the musician remove the big stand-up bass from the case when he came on stage. There would have been no room for the body inside with the bass. The case has been in sight since then. This is a locked room mystery with the audience substituting for walls.

The plot, with several twists and quite a few red herrings, held my interest. I was also intrigued by the intermingling of real performers and fictional bluegrass musicians. Of course, the book is a mystery, and Rizer likes to tickle funny bones, so non-grasser readers might be cautioned that she pushes the envelope with some of the events at the Surcie Island festival, but she never makes fun of the music or the performers. I rate Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Corpse & the Fiddle as five-star both for the mystery itself and for the venture into my beloved world of bluegrass.

My wife, who, as I indicated previously, is more into rock `n roll than bluegrass, says, "I loved the book because I adored Callie in A Tisket, a Tasket, a Fancy Stolen Casket. Since my musical taste leans more toward R&B and rock `n roll, I was afraid that the bluegrass background might interfere with the mystery, but it added to the story. I especially liked the introduction of Rizzie Profit, the Gullah lady, and hope the author makes her a repeat character in future Callie Parrish mysteries."

I truly enjoyed this book! The characters are so real, unique and unforgetable, and so easy to like! The plot's twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat, and Rizer spins a web of perfect intreague for her readers. One could never predict the ending, and that sort of writing always keeps me coming back for more. Jane and Callie have to be my favorites. Just the sort of girls you'd want to hang out with, you know? You'd be sure to have a blast with them, and get into lots of fun trouble as well!


I also loved the twin brothers for whom Callie works. Rizer developed their characters so well. When I read I look for good character development. The people in the story need to seem real to me or I just can't get into the plot. Rizer makes her characters and plots jump right off the page at you, and I love it!

Ciaran Corby, author of Soulbreaker and The Dark Mage.

[...]

Fran Rizer is a hoot! This is the 2nd Callie Parrish mystery, and you can't help but love the characters in these books. They are just real, no-frills, everyday quirky people. The mysteries are never easy to solve, and you have to wait til the very end to find out what really happened to the victims, and I love that! She has a sharp-witted sense of humor, likeable characters with well-developed back stories, and she leaves you anxious for more stories about Callie and her world. Love this series!

After reading the Tisket A Tasket..., I couldn't wait to find this book by Fran Rizer. She lives up to her funtastic reputation and I heartily recommend reading any and all books by Mis Rizer.

I have read the previous a tisket. I was really looking forward to this book! When I finally read the back I was disappointed that it wasn't taking place at the funeral home- but at a bluegrass event. I like most of the characters- but really I don't like Jane and the book really revolves around Jane. It was a good book really good mystery- I will buy the next book for sure- hoping Jane takes a vacation though.

In this second novel of the series, we find the main sleuth, Callie Parrish at a Bluegrass festival with her best friend, Annie. They are enjoying the music when a body appears on the very stage in front of the audience.

Callie feels involved as she often banjo picks with some of the band members in the parking lot. The next turn Callie finds another band member dead in her brother's RV that she and Annie were using. What is going on? Then Annie gets kidnapped.

It is Callie to the rescue surrounded by her bosses, friends, and family. We are led on a laughing out loud search and discovery as this excellent novel brings us on the journey with tight writing and characters that are realistic.

This is book number 2 in a new series. I like the character of Callie very much. She is quirky, funny and someone you can imagine enjoying a friendship with. Her family members are rednecks so this adds anothger layer of fun to the story. Callie's friend, Jane, is blind, so there's another layer. Callie is not the typical heroine of mystery novels. Callie's Southern friends and her job in a mortuary adds something unexpected and different from other mysteries. I am discovering new and unusual things about this character and her career with each book that is interesting. This was another good story that left me guessing until the end. I enjoy this series and looking forward to more.