2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A mystery to the end, June 5, 2010
This review is from: Killer Cousins: A Cealie Gunther Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)
Killer Cousins - Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
I'd flown into Gatlinburg, reached my cousin's house, shoved on the stuck gate of her backyard's wooden fence, and fallen. "Stevie!" I cried, lying face down in tall grass. "Ste--vie!" Her screen door slammed. "Oh, Cealie, it's you! You came!" She squatted beside me and I noticed my hand landed in dog doo-doo. I jerked my hand back. I wasn't wearing my bifocals but could tell the poop was dry. Still - I swiped my fingers through the grass. "You didn't answer the doorbell," I said, checking my hand to make sure it was clean, "so I came back here. I tripped over something." I moved my legs slowly to make sure my stinging knees weren't broken. So many trees cluttered Stevie's yard, I figured a thick branch had fallen, and it was the object my shins lay across. "I'll help you move that thing out of the way." I pointed back to it. Stevie didn't speak. I glanced back to see what brought about this bizarre occurrence. She stooped near me but didn't look at my face. Stevie stared at my feet... I took my time rising. Until I glanced toward where she stared. "It's a man!" I yelled, scrambling to my feet. "Stevie, there's a man in your grass."
Cealie and Stevie are cousins and had grown up close, but in distance only. Their mothers were sisters but their grandmother seemed to favor Cealie over Stevie. This ended up giving Stevie a problem with jealousy, and she made Cealie cry whenever possible. So as Cealie prepared for her trip to Acapulco the call from Stevie begging her to come for a visit was a surprise. She insisted she "needed" her presence and that she, Stevie, was in danger. What caused Stevie to believe she was in danger? Her tarot cards, candles and crystals, of course.
Reading this book and hearing the feelings these two women had for each other brought back memories of some of my own cousins. There always seemed to be one that just stood out in the family as being special, causing others to feel jealous and left out. That's what appeared to be the problem with the relationship between Stevie and Cealie in Killer Cousins. So, will the death of a member of Stevie's stop smoking group change things for them? Will it make matters worse when another member of the group ends up dead in a restaurant owned by Cealie's lover Gil? Or will it bring the two cousins closer together? Why would anyone kill two people who had only one thing in common, which was to quit smoking? And how did they kill them? There are no apparent signs of a struggle on either victim. I'll give you a clue. I guessed the cause around page 115 for the 1st murder. As to the who the killer might be, there are 321 pages in Killer Cousins, I thought I had the answer on page 300 but I was wrong. The killer was a total surprise for me.
2009
321 pages
Gale Cengage
ISBN 978-1-59414-730-2
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
fine Tennessee cozy, January 29, 2009
This review is from: Killer Cousins: A Cealie Gunther Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)
Cealie Gunther was preparing to go to Mexico when she receives an urgent call from her cousin Stevie Midnight to come over as son as possible as she is in danger. Cealie rushes to Stevie's house in Gatlinburg, Tennessee only to trip over a corpse. Police Detective Renwick questions the feuding cousins with Stevie insisting she did not know the victim and an upset Cealie told not to leave town. Cealie is stunned to learn Stevie's plea for help was based on her so called psychic skills.
Cealie accompanies Stevie to her Quitters Group; a support team helping each other quit smoking. There she learns the victim Pierce Trottier was a member of the group although Stevie still insists she never saw him. At the newly opened Cajun Delights owned by Cealie's sometime lover restaurateur Gil Thurman, another Quitters Group attendee Fawn McKenzie dies with her face landing in the source. As Cealie and Stevie argue, they investigate the group members to determine who is applying the Christie story And Then There Were None.
The second Cealie amateur sleuth mystery (see RELATIVE DANGER) is an interesting whodunit that takes a somewhat backseat to the feuding KILLER COUSINS". Stevie and Cealie spend much of the first half of the book irritating one another as if they were still little girls competing for their grandma's affection. The efforts to stop smoking is deftly handled and can be summed up by quoting Mark Twain: "Quitting smoking is easy; I've done it a thousand times", as the addiction is craving for relief all the time. The story line is at its best in the second half when the cousins stop fighting and team up as relentless amateur sleuths solving a murder mystery, middle age dieting, and controlling the cigarette addiction. Overall June Shaw provides a fine Tennessee cozy.
Harriet Klausner
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5.0 out of 5 stars
Killer Cousins -- a big hit!, March 31, 2009
This review is from: Killer Cousins: A Cealie Gunther Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)
After reading Relative Danger, June Shaw's first book, I knew I would enjoy her second book, Killer Cousins. June did not disappoint me. Cajun Delights, the Cajun restaurant chain owned by Cealie, the main character in both books, should be a real life chain, because she makes you want to take a trip to wherever they are located just to experience it firsthand! Killer Cousins is a murder mystery, romance novel and it is funny, too. And, I love the recipes June has included in the back of each book! A great escape book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
