Customer Reviews

The Serpents Trail (Ulverscroft Large Print)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Maxie McNabb and her trusty canine companion, Stretch, take to the road in her Winnebago, en route to Colorado to visit her seriously ill friend, she doesn't think for one minute that she is embarking on a life and death excursion. Her dearest friend and old college mate Sarah, is dying and wishes to see Maxie once again to give her some final instructions as her executor. Maxie arrives just too late however, to find that Sarah has been murdered in the local hospital without making it clear why she so urgently wanted to speak to Maxie. Sarah's house has been torn apart by someone searching for documentation and Maxie is confronted rudely by Alan, Sarah's adopted son, who is bitter and resentful that his mother would choose to have an old friend as executor, rather than him. While driving through the mountains with Ed, another old college friend of Maxie and Sarah, they are almost run off the road by someone intent on doing them harm, and later, Maxie is threatened by an intruder who leaves frightening notes, threatening her life. It's very refreshing to have as the heroine of this book, a feisty 60 something widow who doesn't hesitate to bring out the shotgun in her defence and who proves that not all senior citizens are either senile or too timid to live alone, travel and lead interesting lives. I look forward to further adventures with Maxie and Stretch.

I've been a fan of Sue Henry's since "Murder on the Iditarod Trail" and I've read each book she's published since that first one. Each one is good: well-written, with a sturdy plot and craftsman-like prose. "Serpents Trail" meets my expectations of an enjoyable and interesting mystery experience. And, I really enjoyed Maxie....she is a new kind of heroine: older, practical, fiercely independent, and with an understanding of human behavior which comes with insight and experience. There's nothing unbelievable in this tale: it's the story of how we were growing up in the '50's...innocent, conventional, afraid of social censure. And the results of that environment lead to pain, deep secrets, obsession, and murder. And yes, the ending surprised me until I thought, as Maxie does in the final pages of the book, "Of course, that's the way it had to have been. Funny I didn't see the clues." Like Maxie, I remember those early years, the treacherous innocence, and the painful effect they so often had on us survivors. This book is indeed a well-written story, with a thoughtful and sad conclusion.

We first heard of writer Sue Henry when we stopped at Dawson Peaks Resort near Teslin in the Yukon on an RV trip from Anchorage to Seattle. The resort was the setting for the final scenes in Dead North, one of Henry's Alaska mysteries. That novel introduced the character Maxie McNabb, traveling in her RV up the Alaska Highway with her mini-dachshund, Stretch.

Readers wanted Maxie to have her own book; The Serpents Trail is the result. Maxie, who travels most of the time in her Minnie Winnie Winnebago motorhome, is a character RVers, as well as readers with a sense of adventure, can relate to. She is a 63 year old widow, smart but cautious. She loves the freedom of RV travel. She isn't a professional sleuth but has common sense, a deep sense of integrity, and encounters situations that need to be solved.

As the story opens, Maxie and Stretch are scooting south in her RV from Alaska to fulfill a promise to a longtime friend, terminally ill with a heart condition. Sarah has something important to tell her. Arriving in Colorado Junction, Colorado, Maxie finds Sarah in intensive care. All she can tell Maxie is, "He's not right...." Sarah dies before explaining.

It is then up to Maxie, executrix of Sarah's estate, to find the special instructions Sarah has hidden for Maxie in her Victorian house. Someone else has a key and is also searching.

As Maxie unravels the puzzle, she finds she doesn't know her dear friend as well as she thought. And someone does not want her finding the instructions, leaving threats and attempting to run her off the road in nearby Colorado National Monument. As Maxie follows the clues to Salt Lake City and back, we get caught up in this tale of intrigue and also get a glimpse into the life of a solo woman RVer.

Let's hope this is the first of many in a series. Traveling in an RV will be provide multiple settings for a series of books about Maxie. I wonder where Maxie and Stretch's next adventure will be!

The Serpents Trail is the first in a new mystery series by Alaska author Sue Henry, starring retiree and avid RVer Maxie McNabb - an independent widow whose adventures in her Minnie Winnie motorhome are destined for murderous twists and turns.

Maxie and her mini-dachshund, Stretch, were introduced in Dead North (2002), the 8th book in Henry's established 10-book series starring Alaskan musher Jessie Arnold. In this first book of her own spinoff series, 63-year-old Maxie is cruising down the Alaska Highway in a brand-new Winnebago. She's always been a gypsy at heart - and with her dog at her side in their cozy home on wheels and the open road ahead, she's never been happier.

Maxie's traveling from her home base in Homer, Alaska, to visit her onetime college roommate who is terminally ill in Grand Junction, Colorado. But she finds the house ransacked and Sarah delirious and near death in the hospital. Sarah insists she has left a secret message in the house for Maxie to find.

When Sarah dies, Maxie learns that she is her friend's executor. Not only must she find Sarah's secret, but she also needs to cope with Sarah's surly adopted son; an illegitimate daughter that she never knew existed; a mutual friend from college who has always loved Sarah; and the discovery that Sarah did not die of natural causes.

Liberally sprinkled with Maxie's down-to-earth observations about RVing, life and the characters she meets, The Serpent's Trail is an entertaining, well-plotted "cozy" mystery. Also evident are the author's trademarks - detailed descriptions of natural landscapes and careful research.

Maxie McNabb is an independedent 63-year-old woman who enjoys living in Alaska, traveling in her RV and owning a mini-dachshund named Stretch. When her old college chum, Sarah, becomes terminally ill, Maxie goes for a last visit to Sarah's Colorado home. Sarah has said that she needed to confide something to Maxie, but she is very seriously ill by the time Maxie arrives. One of the women's old college friends, Ed, appears on the scene and he and Maxie spend some time exploring the area together. Before long there are complications about Sarah's sizeable estate and there are questions about who her heirs really are. Maxie does some investigating and soon is receiving threatening letters from an unknown source. This is the first book in a new series by Sue Henry who has written another series about Alaska. Maxie is a delightful character and there seems to be a lot of potential for her to find further adventures in future books.

"The Serpent's Trail," by Sue Henry, Anthony and Macavity Award-winning American author, is another in the author's series of Alaska-based cozy mysteries. But this time, she takes independent 63-year old widow Maxine (Maxie) McNabb, and her short-legged mini-dachshund companion Stretch, introduced in Dead North: An Alaska Mystery and gives them their own book, as, apparently, her readers have been requesting. She plops Maxie and Stretch into a Winnebago, sends them to Grand Junction Colorado, and several adjoining Western states, to visit a terminally ill dear old friend of Maxie's who has called her for assistance, but has been murdered before she can confide her suspicions in her old friend.

Loved all the detail of driving and caring for a recreational vehicle; and the nature writing: the author's descriptions of the beauties of these western states are excellent. The dialog is fine, and all those cups of tea give the Winnebago a homey atmosphere. But this book, older woman's chick lit if ever there was, gives us an anemic mystery. Suspects are thin on the ground, actual events are few and pale,and the McGuffin, as Alfred Hitchcock used to call it, that thing that everyone is seeking and you build a suspense story around, is ill-nourished. Not for the heavy-weight mystery buff.

I'll keep this brief, because even thinking about this book starts a sharp pain in my left temple. The prose is cumbersome, dwelling on trivial details that bring the pace to a lurching crawl. The characters' actions and motivations make little or no sense. Though rarely humorous, there are occasional moments of unintentional hilarity in which the main character lightly shrugs off death threats and attempted murder. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Sixty-three years old Maxie McNabb enjoys hitting the road with her RV accompanied by her mini-dachshund, perhaps the only Alaskan resident not to have a husky. When Maxie learns that her friend Sarah Numamaker is dying, she decides to visit her pal in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Sarah is elated that Maxie is coming to see her, but not just because she enjoys her company, which she does. Sarah needs Maxie to help her with a problem, but will not explain what it is until her visitor arrives. Maxie finds Sarah's house has been turned upside down and her buddy is in the hospital. Sarah dies, but not from her illness but because someone killed her. As the executor, Maxie must settle Sarah's estate, which she has left to her adopted son and any natural children of her own, of which Maxie did not know any existed. Ed Norris claims that Sarah's adopted son, Alan, is actually his; Alan denies any blood ties while openly acts hostile towards Maxie and Ed. As Maxie tries to learn who killed her friend, she also researches relationships to see whether Ed or Alan is telling the truth even while wondering what Sarah needed for her to do.

Though the story line moves at the pace of driving an RV from Alaska to Colorado, fans will appreciate this entertaining cozy due to the delightful sexagenarian charmer Maxie. She makes for a fine tale with her friendly open approach to people even when she is rebuked by her friend's son. Sue Henry, known for her scenic Alaska mysteries, shows she can entertain readers with a lower Forty-Eight tale.

Harriet Klausner

I am not a big fiction reader, but the RV angle was the hook that got me reading this book, as I am an avid RVer of about the same age as Maxie. Actually, I started with _Dead North_, the book that introduces Maxie as a character. I enjoyed that one, so, emulating Lewis and Clark, I "proceeded on" to this book.

Of the 2, I like _Dead North_ better. I feel the plot in _The Serpents Trail_ is weak. One thing that baffles me is that several times in the book there is an abrupt change in point-of-view. These changes are delineated by paragraphs set in italics. I see no good reason for having them. They certainly don't clarify or enhance the story, as far as I can tell.

One of the strengths of the book, for me, is the descriptive passages. I am one of those readers who enjoy description, especially of landscapes. And the advantages of RV travel as well as the disadvantages of air travel that Maxie lists at one point in the narrative could have been written by me. It was uncanny, like the author had read my mind. But I could have done with less detail of Maxie's interactions with her pet dachshund, Stretch. Although I'm sure he's a darlin' doggie, I would not have felt cheated if I was not told about every time Maxie took Stretch out for a, um, stretch.

As a 60-something woman who camps alone and has had several doxies, how could I not love this book? But even without the elements I could relate to, it was a fun book to read. What a great character Maxie is. I've just purchased the second in the series and will no doubt read them all. Get this book!