Customer Reviews

Footprints in the Butter: An Ingrid Beaumont Mystery Co-Starring Hitchcock the Dog

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

 

 

I gave up on this novel on page 17. The writing is muddled and the plot is unclear: the characters are gathered in Denver for a high school reunion, and one of our heroine's friends is murdered. Our heroine is not a suspect because she was caught on videotape at Mile High Statium at the time of the crime, but she seems to be being questioned like a suspect anyway. Why? The her lover vanishes shortly after the murder. Why?--she wonders. Why, indeed?

The author seems to affect a disjointed writing style in order to reflect the ditzy personality of her main character, Ingrid. It doesn't work. Punt.

Ingrid Beaumont loves riddles and crossword puzzles. Though she enjoys reading and watching a whodunit mystery, the genre is not her form of entertainment even though she always tries to solve the book or movie. Perhaps it is because she always selects the red herring.

While Ingrid watches the Broncos play at home, someone kills her high school chum, renowned painter Wylie Jamestone. He dies in nearby Colorado Springs. Local police lieutenant Pete Miller leads the investigation. On the corpse is a note to give the painting to Ingrid and referring to the start of a treasure hunt. Ingrid has an alibi that proves she was at the football game at the time of Wylie's murder. For reasons that Ingrid does not understand or believe, she begins to make her own inquiries into Wylie's murder. With her giant canine Hitchcock faithfully at her side, Ingrid begins to uncover the truth, but as the dynamic pair gets closer, their deadly opponent raises the danger level.

FOOTPRINTS IN THE BUTTER is a wonderful amateur sleuth tale starring a wisecracking and witty heroine and her beloved dog. The enjoyable mystery takes a back seat to the warm middle age protagonist and the independent Hitchcock. Denise Dietz designs a delightful novel that will please fans of the sub-genre, especially those who enjoy the author's Ellie Bernstein books.

I had to struggle to finish this book--me, who loves mysteries and enjoys almost every minute of even the worst of them! But "Footprints in the Butter" was a real turn-off--contrived, trite, and predictable. I knew who did it by page 109 (and I'm a little slow on these things) and the thought of enduring another 140 pages of a shallow heroine, bad jokes, and terrible puns caused me to turn to the last page. By golly, I was right! I didn't even have any regret about missing whatever didn't happen in those pages. All I feel is relief that I am free to spend my day with a better book than this one.

...Although the concept of the mystery is unique, the writerhas used every "How-To-Write-A-Mystery" chapter ever known.Her use of sex is unnecessary in most scenes; the murderer is obviousin the first couple of chapters, the story line is ridiculous, and there is no natural flow to the character, Ingrid Beaumont. I understand that Denise Dietz has several books to her credit, so I'm sure she's has improved her writing since the creation of "Footprints in the Butter"...I hope...

FOOTPRINTS IN THE BUTTER is just about the most fun you can have with the lights on! Murder, mountains, zany characters, elephant jokes, headlong pace, wonderful dialogue. Ingrid and Hitchcock grab your attention from the first page and never let you go.

I enjoyed Ms. Dietz's Beat Up a Cookie and eagerly read this title, only to be disappointed by a story and writing I thought lackluster compared to the other title. I thought it clever to include a supporting player from the other book (Lt. Miller), thus connecting the two series, but I'm sorry to say this book did not enthrall me. I thought some of the dialogue silly and unbelievable at times, and the relationship between Ingrid and her boyfriend odd.

Maybe it's just me, but I found it strange that a former couple who had not seen each other in years could resume a sexual relationship like nothing had happened. Also, I would like to have seen more of Hitchcock the dog. The "co-starring" line on the book cover misled me a bit -- I was expecting something along the lines of Rita Mae's Mrs. Murphy stories where the pets have a larger role in the mystery.

I would recommend to anyone interested in reading Ms. Dietz to read her Ellie Bernstein mysteries. They are well-written.

I loved everything about this book, especially Hitchcock the dog. And I didn't know the identity of the murderer until the very last chapter. I guess what I liked best(besides the dog)is Denise Dietz's witty style. I kept laughing out loud.

This book is full of interesting, grainy characters, one of which is a dog named Hitchcock. The storyline is good, there is a neat puzzle to be solved. The book is funny, gritty, intelligent and a good book to "read in one gulp." I am looking forward to more books by this author.