Customer Reviews

Karma

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In one of her four major book series, Susan Dunlap writes police procedural novels featuring Jill Smith and the ever quirky folks who live and work in Berkeley, California. Dunlap has an eye for, and an obvious affection for, people who are unconventional or downright bizarre, and effectively brings them to life as characters in her novels.

The plot is straightforward---Jill attends a session featuring Berkeley's hottest new guru. The guru is murdered by dagger in front of a packed house of spectators. Was his death just destined by his karma or did venial earthly motives of others cause it? As Jill investigates, there is no shortage of oddball characters with motives. And that's the fun part---the characters that spring from Dunlap's imagination coupled with their counterpart real roll models she draws from her long-term love affair with Berkeley. This is a perfect light, escapist book to read on a summer night. Berkeley hasn't changed much through the years, so her books aren't too dated and stand up well with a new generation of readers if they are lucky enough to discover Dunlap's body of work. I have used this series for required reading for college students in my "Mystery Novels Set in California" class, and most of the students give the Dunlap books three big thumbs up. Recommended highly.

If you prefer a more hard-boiled book, try The Empanada Affair.