Mariner's Compass (Benni Harper Mystery) [Hardcover]

Earlene Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Series: Benni Harper Mystery | Publication Date: May 1, 1999

The newest Benni Harper mystery from the three-time Agatha Award Nominee and author of Dove in the Window. The ex-cowgirl, quilter, and resident sleuth of San Celina, California, is back-navigating her way through a stormy sea of puzzling clues to a home she never knew existed... Jacob Chandler knew everything about Benni Harper, and in his house were pieces of her life: a scrapbook of newspaper clippings that covered her life and work. When Jacob Chandler died, he left his home in Morro Bay and all its contents to Benni-the only stipulation being that she had to stay in the house for two weeks, alone, before the inheritance became hers. But Benni Harper has never even heard of Jacob Chandler. To discover whether he is her guardian angel or personal demon, she must follow the scavenger-hunt clues he has set up for her throughout his home. The waters are rough and the direction unclear as she finds herself setting a course to a time and place in her own past-a place Benni Harper and Jacob Chandler both knew as home...

"Earlene Fowler writes from the heart, and her Benni Harper is a true original." -Susan Rogers Cooper, author of Doctors and Lawyers and Such

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A bizarre inheritance, a dangerous quest and a political battle are the main events of Benni Harper's captivating sixth adventure (after Dove in the Window). Benni's work at the San Celina Folk Art Museum is interrupted when she unexpectedly inherits the estate of a stranger named Jacob Chandler. His house in Morro Bay is worth $200,000, but Chandler's will stipulates that Benni can keep the windfall only if she lives in the house for two weeksAalone. As expected, her protective husband, police chief Gabe, is none too happy about this development. But Benni is unwilling to turn down the money, and more important, her curiosity is piqued. After all, why would someone she'd never met make her his sole heir, especially when it turns out that many others were expecting to benefit from his death? To find the answer, Benni embarks on a dangerous search for Chandler's motives, following a series of cryptic notes that he's left for her all over California. Meanwhile, Gabe has his hands full keeping peace between San Celina's mayor and Benni's formidable Gramma Dove, who leads a sit-in at the Historical Museum to thwart the mayor's plan to convert it into a restaurant. As Benni's inquiries lead to unsettling information about her mother, who died when Benni was six, Fowler captures her plucky heroine's secret anxieties, but offsets them with a good dose of humor. Benni's need to know the truth about her family imbues the novel with alluring intimacy and suspense. And Chandler's penchant for wood carving provokes engaging descriptions of that craft, which accompany Fowler's usual bits on quilting and food. Chandler's puzzles test Benni's relationships with her husband, father and grandmother in this excellent addition to a notable series.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In order to inherit a house from a man she never met, series protagonist Benni Harper (Dove in the Window, Prime Crime: Berkley, 1998) must spend two weeks alone in it. There, the folk art museum curator and sleuth follows mysterious clues her benefactor left behind. For series fans.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 322 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1 edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425168913
• ISBN-13: 978-0425168912
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #900,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greetings from a native Southern Californian!

I've been married 37 years to my high school sweetheart, Allen, who was born in Kansas. We met when we were fifteen. We don't have children, but are owned by a spoiled and extremely intelligent Pembroke Welsh corgi named Boudin. We call him Boo. Though I'm a native Southern Californian, my parents are not. My father was born in Colorado and grew up in a migrant worker family. My mother's family were cotton sharecropers in Arkansas. I've been writing since I was in my late-twenties. I published my first novel, Fool's Puzzle, when I was in my late thirties. I like to ride horses when I can (and luckily, have friends who own horses), walk my dog, travel with my husband, sometimes do scrapbooking when I have time. I have three sisters. I'm the number two sister.

I was named after my father and my grandfather. Both of them are named Earl. The first book I remember reading by myself was Curious George. I think it was the one where he went to the circus. My favorite fictional character is Old Yeller. He had courage and loyalty, two virtues I admire greatly. If I wasn't a writer, I'd love to be a dog trainer. Back in the 1980's, for a year and a half, I taught a weekly craft class at a retirement home in Covina, California. My youngest member was in her late sixties; my oldest was ninety-eight. Those fifteen women taught me way more than I ever taught them. I love strawberry ice cream and fried tacos. Together or separately. Doesn't matter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was light, entertaining, entrancing and fun., November 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mariner's Compass (Benni Harper Mystery) (Hardcover)

I have enjoyed all of Ms. Fowler's Benni Harper mysteries, but I really enjoyed this last one. It took a different approach than the previous books, but still had all of the fun and excitement of the previous plots. The characters are interesting, the language is clean, there is no blood and gore descriptives, there is romance without explicit detail. It is just a light mystery that is entertaining to read. So refreshing in the choices of mystery novels of today. I hope she continues to write Benni Harper books, I look forward to what happens with her next.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is fine storytelling, December 31, 2002

By 

stitcher_karen "evansrm1" (Clinton, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mariner's Compass (Benni Harper Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

While quilting is not as integral to the story as the Elm Creeks series, the storytelling is superb. Fast-paced, witty and with enough chutzpah and machismo to keep Benni & Gabe from getting staid; and keep me grinning. Tying the title quilt block to the plot of the book is clever and entertaining.

I found this book darker than the other Benni Harper mysteries as Benni confronts suspicions of her parentage thanks to her previously unknown uncle, the late Jacob Chandler. She has to deal with a wealth of suspicious characters as she tries to survive the terms of Jacob's will. Benni and Gabe seem to be growing together as a couple and their wildly differing viewpoints are finally rubbing off on each other. Dove, as usual, is a stitch; leading the "San Celina Seven" to rescue the Historical Society museum from the money-grubbing, development minded mayor. Cousin Emory and temporary neighbor Rich Trujillo add a healthy dollop of Southern and Mexican spice to the plot. Eccentric potter Azanna Nybak, best friend Eliva, and even Scout the dog add body to this story. A fun read that left me wanting more.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Agatha Award Winner -- Definitely worth a read., January 5, 2001

By 

jvmeadows (Lynnwood, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mariner's Compass (Benni Harper Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've decided to try reading all those nominated for best mystery novel awards. Earlene Fowler's "Mariner's Compass", won the Agatha Award for Best Novel in the year 2000. I'm glad it did, because I might not have otherwise discovered this mystery writer, and Fowler's definitely worth reading.

The title, "Mariner's Compass", refers not only to an inheritance pointing out a complex scavenger hunt touching investigator Benni Harper's past, but to an old, historic quilt design. The interaction between the hunt for certain objects, their interrelationship with the people who hold them and Benni, and Benni's own personal journey is extremely well done and makes for a gripping novel. Fowler's descriptions of small seaside California towns are very evocative, and refreshingly positive. The novel's Prologue is touching and worth the price of the book.

Put some logs in the fireplace, get yourself a cup of hot cocoa and your favorite quilt, and curl up with this first rate yarn. You won't regret it.