Murder for Beltene: A Beltene Family Mystery (...Dressed Like a Mystery, with Fantasy Lingerie...) [Paperback]

Sandra Brewer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

Life used to be so simple for Rhiannon Beltene. The deadlines for the vampire novels she writes used to be the most she had to worry about. But not anymore. Her cousin, Trystan, sleeps in a coffin and thinks he's a vampire. The body she's just found has thrown everyone into a tizzy. It's the first of a series of bodies, which are appearing in Brennen County on a nightly basis; two incisions, reminiscent of a vampire attack, in the throat and a serious lack of blood in their veins. There's a new sheriff in town and her cousin, Righdhonn, a mercenary and the best armed man in the county, has become her shadow. She's forced to put down her writing and deal with both the crisis and the new sheriff, who has no idea of exactly how the Beltene family runs Brennen County. Things escalate quickly as the killer begins dropping off notes with the bodies. A confusing series of clues combined with the identification of the bodies and their occupations soon make the killer's reasoning all too clear. Rhiannon's family is sure that the killings are all her fault, the tabloids are having a field day and the murderer thinks a body a day is a terrific gift.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Vampire novelist Rhiannon Beltene, newly elected head of the Beltene clan, lives in rural Michigan with most of her relatives in a towered mansion. When a killer begins leaving embalmed bodies as "homage," Rhiannon and the sheriff attempt an alliance of her brains and his brawn. What makes this difficult is the special nature of the Beltenes: they are Druid descendants, some already hundreds of years old. Vampire lore seems ordinary compared to the mystical Druid stuff and occasional Gaelic speech, but Brewer is careful not to overdo it. For larger collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...a mystery novel which not only succeeds in using the genre's (mystery/horror) conventions, but in some way transcending them. Perhaps a new subgenre has been created..." -- Northwind Magazine, January 9, 2000

"Rhiannon Beltene is surely the most upbeat and colorful vampire novelist in history. The escapades of her eccentric family makes Murder for Beltene a high-spirited read." -- Katherine Neville, The Magic Circle

"What fun, this is almost like reading an early Charlotte Macleod." -- The Poisoned Pen, Vol. 11, No. 10, September 1999

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: Write Way Publishing (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885173679
• ISBN-13: 978-1885173676
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,551,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Druids, Vampire Wannabes, and Murder, December 5, 2001

By 

mayfayre "mayfayre" (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Murder for Beltene: A Beltene Family Mystery (...Dressed Like a Mystery, with Fantasy Lingerie...) (Paperback)

Funny debut novel about the Clan Beltene of Sevyrn Michigan. The Beltenes, a family of Welsh descent, have been in the area for centuries and basically control it financially and politically, due to certain peculiarities in their nature. Rhiannon Beltene has just been chosen The Beltene, the leader of the family and its fortunes. This is a role that gets passed around periodically to the eldest "Unchanged" member of the family.

Rhiannon, however, is initially not happy with being The Beltene. She is a writer of popular vampire fiction, and has never been that deeply involved with family matters. All that changes when a series of dead bodies start showing up around town, with incision marks on their necks and the bodies drained of blood, and their deaths dedicated to Rhiannon. Advance notice of the murders was sent to the tabloids and they have descended upon the town en masse. To complicate matters, there is a new Sheriff, Daniel Thorpe (who is not of Welsh descent, nor is he a local), chosen by the older members of her family (one of whom is the mayor), and who is unaware of the true nature of the Beltenes. Unfortunately for Dan, he doesn't know that the elders are also playing matchmaker - Rhiannon does, and she's not pleased by it.

The Beltene family is large, but Ms. Brewer kindly gives the reader a cast of characters, maps and floor plans at the beginning of the book to quickly orient the reader. This was one of those books that when it ends, you're surprised that it's over. Hopefully the sequel won't be long in arriving.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, funny first mystery. Hope there are more!, May 1, 2001

By 

M. J. Lowe "www.mjlowe.info" (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder for Beltene: A Beltene Family Mystery (...Dressed Like a Mystery, with Fantasy Lingerie...) (Paperback)

On her way to the store for her nightly soft ice cream cone fix, Rhiannon Beltene finds a dead body on the path that cuts through her family's woods. The victim's anonymity alone is strange in the quiet town of Sevyrn, located in Brennan County in Michigan's Upper peninsula. However, the circumstances of his death -- Drained of blood with puncture wounds in the neck, the body appears to have been killed by a vampire. -- make it clear that Rhi, a successful writer of vampire fiction, has acquired a rather dangerous admirer. As the start to bodies appear regularly Rhi finds herself forced to deal with Brennan County's new Sheriff who has serious reservations about one of Rhi's cousins. Trysan sleeps in a coffin and enjoys vampire fantasies. Despite a pressing deadline for her next novel, Rhi is forced to set her writing aside to assist the investigation and comes to accept her responsibilities as "The Beltene" or head of Clan Beltene, a family of Welsh descent that has been in Brennan County since the 1780s.

The mystery itself takes a back seat to the mystery of the Beltene family and as the reader meets an interesting assortment of clan members -- from mercenaries to lawyers to Catholic priests to long practicing (definately not "neo") Druids -- it quickly becomes clear that nothing is quite as it appears. Brewer's characters are funny, intelligent, and more than a little odd . . .. This is Brewer's first novel featuring the Beltene clan, and with any luck, it won't be the last such book that we get from Brewer.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This family gives new meaning to the term "eccentric"., October 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Murder for Beltene: A Beltene Family Mystery (...Dressed Like a Mystery, with Fantasy Lingerie...) (Paperback)

It only takes a few pages of Murder for Beltene to realize that these are definitely characters worth spending an evening with! The Clan Beltene, a family of Welsh druids, has lived in Michigan since before Michigan was part of the United States. But you won't see them running around the woods in long robes; they've adapted to the modern world quite well, bringing their unique family perspective to such occupations as doctor, county prosecutor, judge, artist, even vampire novelist. Even without the mystery, this book would be enjoyable for the characters. The mystery - who's leaving embalmed bodies around the town in honor of Rhiannon Beltene, best-selling author of vampire novels and reluctant head of the Beltene clan? Is this murder spree leading up to an attack on Rhiannon? Will the family castle soon be under seige? Sandra Brewer paints an interesting, and accurate, picture of life in a small Michigan town, peopling it with the type of "characters" so many of our little villages seem to have in abundance. They're goofy, cantankerous, and very real. And lest anyone think this is only a book for fans of horror, fantasy, or vampire novels, let me set you straight on that. I don't read horror or vampire novels, and not much fantasy, but I enjoyed Murder for Beltene and I'll be waiting for the next installment on this unique family. Yes, there is material about druids and vampires, but it fits in so well with today's society that I'm not left rolling my eyes. I have, however, been tempted to pull out my Atlas of Michigan and try to figure out just where "Up North" Sevyrn really is. This is a novel for fans of hometown mysteries, too.