Little Shop of Murders: A Kate London Mystery (Paperback)

by Susan Goodwill (Author)
Key Phrases: sausage festival, land yacht, casino tent, Bud Nicholau, Mudd Lake, Audrey Two (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Love, laughter, and lots of mystery... I highly recommend this entertaining read."

Product Description

When Walter, a bathrobe-clad octogenarian, robs the bank using a concealed banana as the hold-up weapon, Kate and Aunt Kitty speed after him in Kitty's mammoth 1974 Eldorado convertible. But instead of retrieving their cold hard cash, they find a still-warm dead body, much to the consternation of a certain sexy sheriff who happens to be Kate's person of interest in the boyfriend department. Things go from bad to worse when Kate's ex-flame from the Treasury Department and a quart-low biker gang—the Devil's Cheerleaders—get involved in the mayhem.

Despite continuous misadventures—from Sausage Festival pandemonium to a malfunctioning giant man-eating plant from Splotski's Theatre Rentals—Kate and Kitty are determined that the show must go on.

Sexy, sassy, and hilarious, this theatre mystery is the second in a series featuring amateur sleuth Kate London.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: MIDNIGHT INK (March 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738710482
• ISBN-13: 978-0738710488
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #542,980 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 2 in The Kate London Mystery Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will Mudd Lake be the Cabot Cove of the Midwest?, April 12, 2008

By	Carrie J. Bylina "Rick Bylina" (Apex, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The second novel in the Kate London series starts out like a mad rush to get Elvis concert tickets and then picks up speed. Kate, her Aunt Kitty, and a gaggle of friends take on undercover agents, a biker gang, a giant man-eating plant, a childhood rival, rebelling actors, and a mumbling President Clinton to recover Kate's advanced-ticket sales stolen by a crazy octogenarian bank robber who happens to be dating septuagenarian and former movie star, Aunt Kitty. Oh yes, the murder of a crooked banker must also be solved. And that's all in the first three chapters. From there, Kate unravels a complex plot with zany twists worthy of a Mack Sennett movie to save Kate's production of "A Little Shop of Horrors" at Mudd Lake's historic Egyptian Theatre during the pandemonium of the town's Sausage Festival. And she must do this in four days while balancing the love interest of Sheriff Ben against the tingling sensation brought on by a past lover. I got so many paper cuts quickly turning the pages of this five star humorous cozy, I can only applaud with my feet.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Little Shoppe, April 17, 2008

By	Katherine M. Gerdes - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed the book--will probably look for more by the author. Eerily similar to the Janet Evanovich books.

3.0 out of 5 stars Funny but lightweight cozy mystery, February 2, 2009

By	drebbles (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Kate London is already worried about money - her amateur theatre group, the Mudd Lake Players, is struggling to survive - and the last thing she needs is to be robbed while standing in line at the bank. To add insult to injury- she was robbed by an octogenarian in a bathrobe wielding a banana as the holdup weapon. Kate and her eccentric Aunt Kitty are bound and determined to catch Walter, but soon find themselves involved with murder, the Treasury Department, a biker gang, and even a repo man.

"Little Shop of Murders" is a humorous cozy mystery that is long on humor and short on plot. The book is filled with eccentric characters - Kate, her ex-movie star aunt, Walter, a cop named Elvis-Pressley, a repo man and many more. There is also plenty of action - murder, bank robberies, car chases, explosions, and even the play "Little Shop of Horrors." There are even two love interests for Kate. All of this sounds, and should have been, interesting but it never quite worked for me. The book is very funny but the humor is over the top at times and kept me from ever really being interested in the murder plotline. Many of the characters seemed thrown into the book just for the sake of humor. The murder mystery does have a few good moments but often gets lost in the humorous bits. There are plenty of suspects but I found the identity of the murderer to be a bit of a copout. There are a lot of things happening in the book (the play, the bank robbery, a sausage festival, biker's gangs) and it was hard keeping characters straight in my mind.

"Little Shop of Murders" is a funny but lightweight cozy mystery.