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Don't Forget To Die: A Charlie Plato Mystery

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Charlie Plato, a 30-something redhead is divorced and one of the owners of Chaps, a country western nightclub. One half is owned by tv star Zach Hunter. In this, the fourth book of the series, Charlie continues to fight her raging hormones when it comes to Zach and even convinces herself she has conquered those "baser animal instincts." The mysterious Angel, another partner, is the focus of this adventure. Not only do the others find out he has a brother, but that his father has just been found murdered. Charlie and Zach get on the case to prove that neither brother committed the murder, but there are plenty of other suspects and some surprising revelations. Fred Astaire was a perfectionist who practiced and practiced until he got it right, yet when we watch him we can believe that his routines were spontaneous. He makes it look so easy. Margaret Chittenden has that same deceptively smooth and professional grace. Although we know she labored over each and every word and phrase, it feels as if she is right there with us telling a story with the prose equivalent of the great Astaire's style.

Charlie Plato owns a sixth share of Chaps, a country and western bar that specializes in in-line dancing. Former TV superstar Zach Hunter owns most of the remainder of shares of the establishment. Burned by a nasty divorce, Charlie works extra hard to check her raging hormones, which erupt whenever she comes in close proximity to Zach. The duo spends an inordinate amount of time together whenever they become involved in a homicide investigation.

Their latest case involves another co-owner, Angel Cervantes, who asks for their help. The corpse of Angel's father was recently found in a storage locker. The victim killed Angel's mother before deserting his family. Angel and his brother had tracked their father to San Francisco, planning to bring him to justice. Now they fear they are the prime suspects and want their names cleared. Charlie and Zach begin making inquiries.

DON'T FORGET TO DIE is Meg Chittendon at her very best as she adds a whole lot of extra sexual tension between the two lead protagonists that the audience can really feel. As usual, the mystery is well executed and the audience will be fascinated by the personal life of one of the most enigmatic secondary characters to grace fiction. Upon reading this novel, impatience for the next installment is the order of the day.

Harriet Klausner