2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chris Bennett is MY KIND OF SLEUTH!, August 10, 2002
This review is from: The Happy Birthday Murder: A Christine Bennett Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
I recently purchased 'The Happy Birthday Murder' at a book sale. Because of this fortunate happening, I now have discovered a whole series by an author I had not read before! (I love it when I do that!)
Christine Bennett is a fascinating female sleuth with an interesting life. A former nun, released from her vows and now married with an (almost) four year old son, Chris has a real knack for solving murders.
'The Happy Birthday Murder' is her most recent outing, but from little references here and there in the text (and the helpful reading list printed in the back of this paperback) it is apparent that solving murders is something Christine is very good at doing.
Chris resides in the home which her beloved Aunt Meg left to her upon her death. While sorting through some boxes of keepsakes in the basement, Christine finds several letters which refer to the deaths of two individuals that died within a few days of one another over twelve years ago. One was a fifty year old, successful business man who committed suicide and the other a young retarded man who dies of exposure after wandering away from the home of friends and becoming lost for several days.
Nothing suspicious was ever discovered regarding either case and families of each man had resumed their lives, long before Christine left the convent. But for a female sleuth, who is good at ferreting out puzzles, there are some oddities that send her asking questions. And when she talks to the families, she unearths even more questions.
This is a tightly written plot that will keep the reader guessing. Written in a breezy, informal style, it tells the story from the viewpoint of an extremely likable character, who loves her husband and son, is a good neighbor and productive member of her community --- and just happens to be good at solving murders!
I'm now on a quest of my own, to find the previous books of this series that have such names as The Good Friday Murder, The April Fool's Day Murder and The Labor Day Murder. Wish me luck!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good series is getting back on track, February 4, 2002
This review is from: The Happy Birthday Murder: A Christine Bennett Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
This latest entry in the series featuring Chris Bennett is one of the best since the ex-nun solved her first murder. Although there is still a lot of time spent describing Chris's day to day activities with and without her son and husband, much more of the activity is actually important to the final solution. Chris also seems to be making the transition to the 'real' world. The character doesn't worry so much about things the rest of us would take for granted. She actually buys an airplane ticket to Florida without reminding the reader that she never used to carry more than a dollar with her at any time. There was also no last minute trip to the convent for help with the solution. Sister Joseph makes an appearance but really doesn't help to solve this one. Maybe it's because Chris is once again working to solve an old puzzle rather than a current murder case that her personality and methodology seem less abrasive and her questions somehow less intrusive.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Yes, I wonder, too, April 28, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Happy Birthday Murder: A Christine Bennett Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
But amateur sleuths are always nosy about something and if they weren't, their authors would be writing other stories. I thought that this was one of the more intricate entries in this series and I enjoyed it a lot.
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