Customer Reviews

Restored to Death (Judge Jackson Crain Mysteries)

5 star:		(1)
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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Post Oak, Texas is a very tiny town where everyone seems to know one another, even their darkest secrets. To the surprise of the locals, the single father of a teen, Judge Jackson Crain, is seeing a visiting outsider preservationist out in the open. However, the county magistrate, like everyone except one person, has no idea who strangled his sister-in-law Dora Hughes and a transient. Jackson investigates, as he needs to know.

Still, in spite of the two murders, the women continue to meet at the Knit Shop to share tidbits about anyone who is not there. On the other hand the men never gossip except over coffee at the Wagon Wheel. While chitchat seems to be the cottage industry of Post Oak, the killer has struck at least twice but will the law figure out the identity in time to stop the culprit before he or she kills again.

RESTORED TO DEATH is an interesting small town regional mystery that brings to life the townsfolk (and a few corpses) so that the reader understands down home Texas. Jackson is a delightful main character, but even he seems overwhelmed by the obvious typecasting that engulfs him. The who-done-it pales next to the ensemble cast so that Nancy Bell's tale is not quite a Biggie.

Harriet Klausner

When his sister-in-law is murdered and his brother-in-law identified as lead suspect, Judge Jackson Crain decides he has to investigate. Ron just isn't the type to brutally murder a woman--even a woman as cruel as Dora. When a second woman is killed, Ron would seem to be off the hook, but Post Oak, Texas is a small town and two brutal murders is a lot. Unfortunately, his investigation seems to point the finger directly at the one person he really doesn't want to doubt, his new girlfriend.

Author Nancy Bell offers a charming look at small-town Texas. The gossip, religious extremism, and kindness all ring true. Bell is also convincing in her description of battered and abused women--who, sadly, seem to make up the majority of the females in this story.

As a mystery, RESTORED TO DEATH is only adequate. It is hard to believe that even a small-town police force would fail to follow up on the connection between the two victims. For me, the resolution was so forced that I kept looking for the last chapter--the one that explained that the supposed solution was wrong and that the real killer remained to be found. Too much of the mystery was left as coincidence and meaningless.

I believe I recognize Post Oak and its inhabitants. It's about three towns down the road from me. I went to Sunday school with some of the people. Nancy Bell writes with an deep knowledge of the area. I hope Judge Jackson Crain will be around for a long time. The story began with a reference to Atticus and Scout and they would have felt right at home with all the characters portrayed in RESTORED TO DEATH.

A fast read, shivery in spots, that keeps you guessing for a while. Just a bit too much of the "unseen eyes watching" lurks in the shadows. Great that Judge Crain has an excellent relationship with his just-turned-teenage daughter - gives us hope that maybe single parenthood has some benefits. The clues and red herrings are nicely mixed up with interesting tidbits about townsfolk. This is a good beginning for a series and that leaves enough questions to keep the reader looking for the next adventure.
The spelling of Texan's speech rings true to the ear and is fun to say aloud. Bell makes good use of small town busybodies' curiosity to move along the love interest. She leaves out some of the real flavor of the neighborhood so the reader has no sense of what any given character will do or say next.
The two murders in RESTORED TO DEATH are described after the fact so the reader can easily pretend they are bloodless. Even the figure looming over a third victim, tire iron raised, does not inspire fear in the reader. After ignoring lots of real clues and questions, the law personfied by a nice guy sheriff finally shows up in the right spot in the nick of time.
It's easy mind candy but maybe the next one will be better.

I love the Biggie Series! I was very disappointed that Nancy Bell felt she had to add all the "four-letter" words to this series. I started reading this book and I like the characters but I put the book down without finishing it because I didn't like the foul language - it was also VERY unnecessary. The language took away the "cozy" feel.

I enjoyed the characters in this book and there were even some interesting plot developments, but about half way through it stopped going anywhere. I have NOT read the Biggie books so don't have a good comparison, but I have to admit that this book sure didn't make me want to read more by this author. I found the end very unsatisfactory - it was almost like about half way through the book she lost interest and just finished it up as quickly as possible, without much thought.