Customer Reviews

Hotel South Dakota (Tory Bauer Mystery)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The folks in Delphi South Dakota are planning a big high school reunion and reminiscing about the past. One of the things they are remembering is the death of Butchie Pendergast in 1969 at a kegger party by the river following the Homecoming celebrations. At the time, it was assumed to be a drowning accident. But was it? Twenty years later history seems to be repeating itself and Tory Bauer wants to know the truth. Along with a good mystery, told with humor and suspense, there are some good life lessons served up in this one. I've read three Tory Bauer mysteries now, and every one of them is a winner.

This is the third in a series of Tory Bauer Mysteries. Tory Bauer is a forty-somthing, widowed waitress who inadvertently and against her will stumbles on to mysteries. It is very funny and interesting how the story from the past and the present intertwine. I loved it and had a blast reading it.

I can tell I really like a book when I don't want to put it down at night, when I almost miss my train stop because I am too engrossed and when my husband talks to me and I don't hear him because I am reading. All of her books do that for me. They are AWESOME!

In Delphi, SD, nobody's drop-dead beautiful. Nobody (except the librarian) is wealthy. And nobody's perfect. But you'll love them all. The mystery's a winner, too.

THE HOTEL SOUTH DAKOTA
Kathleen Taylor
Avon, Mar 1997, $5.99, 304 pp.
ISBN 0-380-78356-8

The South Dakota town of Delphi is going all out for the festivities surrounding its seventy-fifth anniversary Football Homecoming parade/game and the All School Reunion that would follow. Even waitress Tory Bover, who couldn't care about sports, is caught up in the enthusiasm. Tory is excited because Janelle Ross, known to the rest of the world as J. Ross Nelson, Hollywood actress and tabloid star is returning to her hometown for the first time in twenty five years. She left unexpectedly after a friend of hers drowned in the Jim River and was never seen anywhere near-south Dakota again.
Just like twenty five years ago the old timers have a second after football party at the Jim River, and just like the first one, somebody else dies. This time it is the obnoxious bullying football coach Doug Fischbach. Doug had played a key drama in the first party as well since he ran off with Janelle only to return (sans Janelle) three days later, smirking and smug. Now Janelle is missing and the whole town is in an uproar trying to piece together what happened. Tony, who thinks there is a connection between the two deaths even though they occurred twenty-five years apart, is determined to discover the link in order to get at the truth, no matter who gets hurt, even herself.
Readers who found SEX AND SALMONELLA entertaining, witty and exciting will be even more enthralled with the HOTEL SOUTH DAKOTA, the latest Tory Bover mystery. The denizens of Delphi are a fascinating and eccentric lot with more layers than an onion, but they are so down home that readers will find themselves wishing they lived in a town exactly like that one. It is the heroine, an overweight middle aged widow who has more spunk, personality, and courage than she knows what to do with, who captures attention and hearts. A terrific read by a very talented and multidimensional author.

Harriet Klausner

I am exactly the same age as Tory Buaer and
grew up and still live in a small town in South
Dakota. Not quite as small and dusty as Delphine but I found myself and my friends in every page of the book. I was at first a little confused because so many characters were introduced right in the beginning. However, that soon cleared and I was pleasantly surprised at how well written it was. Anyone who grew up in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's in a small Midwestern town would enjoy this book. I will be watching for all Kathleen Taylor novels

Somewhat reminiscent of the Hamish MacBeth series of M.C.Beaton, these stories are local, relaxing, and likeable. An easy read, without complexities with no need to suspend disbelief by an educated reader.

Much fun. I graduated from an Iowa small town school well before the 1969 of this book, but it was (is) all familiar. She has the setting right; I particularly liked the discription of the men following the football up and down the sidelines.
Liked it enough to look up her others and order them tonite

I'm afraid my opinion is terribly biased. I grew up in South Dakota, attended college in Aberdeen (where I met my husband) and lived in Mitchell and Huron (both on the James River, which we called "the Jim"). I'm familiar with small towns like Delphi. Hitchcock and Tulare are real, as is Redfield. (The character Janelle is vaguely reminiscent of a young girl from Huron who ended up one of Charlie's Angels.) There is no doubt in my mind that Ms. Taylor is a South Dakotan through and through. It doesn't matter that the plot is slow to develop. The characters are so well developed that one can't help but feel we know them. I recommend this book to anyone who has lived in a small town. . . or wishes they had.

I don't want to give away the ending, but it seems that Ms. Taylor likes her characters ("nothing like" those in her home town, according to the author's bio) too much to let anyone be too guilty - only the dead really deserve punishment. As you can see, reviewers either love or hate the series. Perhaps the real dividing line on the reviews is whether the reviewer has relatives from the upper Midwest. Yes, each book is one long piece of gossip, but that's what gives it local color and makes it seem authentic. Frankly, I feel I know Delphi better than Harrold because of this series.