Customer Reviews

Steps to the Altar (Benni Harper Mystery)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Love and marriage are the threads that stitch together the various stories in Earlene Fowler's most recent Benni Harper [quilt] novel, Steps To The Altar. The main mystery involves the unsolved murder of a prominent citizen of San Celina [Fowler's fictionalized version of San Luis Obispo, CA] in the 1940's and Benni Harper's attempts to solve the murder 50 years later [the locals think the wife and her lover did the deed]. This plays out against the backdrop of the ongoing lives of our favorite citizens of San Celina. Story blocks in this well-sewn quilt of a novel include the marriage of Emory and Elvia [Benni's nth cousin and best male friend and Benni's best girl friend], the marriage of Dove and Isaac [Benni's Grandmother and her photographer boyfriend], and the possible breakup of Benni and Gabe Ortiz's two year marriage when an old partner and lover of Gabe's shows up in San Celina. Included at the edges of this quilt are bits and pieces of San Celina's annual Mardi Gras celebration. This is a wonderful novel [as are the others in this series] and I recommend it highly. This goes for male readers as well as for female readers [I admit that I read the first Benni Harper Mystery, Fool's Puzzle, when I was screening novels for my grandmother (Grandma didn't like mysteries with lots of nasty language in them since she'd end up blipping over those sections), but I fell in love with them myself and have continued to read them long after Grandma died]. I bought three copies of the book: one for myself, one for the library at the high school where I teach, and one for a favorite [quilting] colleague of mine [all signed by Ms. Fowler, who is one of the nicest, most sincere people on the planet Earth]. My Mom loves 'em, too! So get a copy, wrap yourself up in your favorite quilt, and enjoy.

Earlene Fowler has written a wonderful series of cozies set on the central California coast and featuring Benni Harper, head of an art co-op and her police chief husband, Gabe. In this ninth book of the series, Benni's best friend Elvia and her grandmother Dove are plannng their respective weddings. At the same time she is busy helping them, Benni is asked to catalogue the letters and keepsakes of a woman named Maple Sullivan who reputedly killed her wealthy husband and ran off with another man. Benni reads Maple's love letters to her husband and has a hard time believing that she could have actually murdered him. The decades old mystery intrigues Benni and it also keeps her mind off her own deteriorating marriage. Gabe has encountered an old girlfriend who makes no secret of the fact that she is out to rekindle their old romance. Fowler seems to hit all the right notes as she continues to develop the characters and situations in this well-written series.

Earlene Fowler's 9th novel is the most riveting yet, right to the very end. I bought the book on the way home from work one evening, began reading right away, and stayed up till it was finished. I knew I'd never be able to sleep anyway without knowing how Benni and Gabe resolved their problems. I re-read it again over the next few days to savor it more slowly. I was glad for the prologue to Earlene's earlier book, Mariner's Compass, which let us know they were still going strong after 40 years. I think it would have been harder to read without knowing that.

I felt so incredibly sad reading this book, perhaps reliving the feelings from the breakup of my own marriage. Sad also that Benni was unable to really enjoy the celebration of the marriage of her best friend and her favorite cousin. I was glad they finally tied the knot, however, and that their wedding was included in the book.

I especially liked the themes of forgiveness and the grace of God, and how both Benni and Gabe sought advice (albeit unwillingly) from their respective spiritual advisors. Having chapters written from Gabe's point of view this time was enlightening, and made him a more well-rounded person. It's now easier to understand why he sometimes acts the way he does.

The other mystery in this book (besides the one about Benni and Gabe's marriage) was, the fifty-year-old unsolved murder that Benni got involved in to catalog items for the historical society. What she discovered gave her insights into love and marriage, as well as the search for what really happened.

Grandma Dove was a hoot, as always. I wish she were my Grandma! These characters feel so real to me, it's almost hard to believe they are not.

As difficult as it was to experience the feelings this book invoked in me, I think it was very realistic as to what can happen in a marriage to either break it apart or make it stronger. Thanks again to Earlene for yet another wonderful chapter in the lives of Benni and Gabe.

Wow. Not only would I say that the latest Benni Harper story did not disappoint, I would add that I'm most impressed with how Earlene Fowler has kept the series from becoming predictable! As usual, the characters seem so real to me that I feel like Benni is my personal friend. This story takes an edgy turn, and I felt like I was feeling Bennie's emotions with her.

I don't know quite how Earlene Fowler does it, but her books keep getting better and better. Unlike other authors who seem to loose steam when writing a series, this series seems to keep going strong.

Thank you Earlene for a wonderful couple of days! Do I have to wait a WHOLE YEAR for the next one?

Every time a read a Bennie Harper Mystery I'm ready to pack my bags and move to San Celina. The characters are wonderful, believable people and their interations with each other so real you feel a part of it as you read. This story line is great! Bennie struggles with some difficult personal problems while juggling maid of honor duties and solving a mystery from the past WWII era. Her life never has a dull moment and neither does this book. I highly recommend Steps To The Altar as well as the other books in the series.

The threat to Benni this time is emotional, not physical but it is as harrowing as any she's faced. Fowler's books are based on relationships always and this book more than any. For fans you get to know characters you love better and see their flaws full blown. You get to know newer characters much better and get to solve an old mystery. The relationship with Gabe and Benni is on the line in this book and the outcome is satisfying and hard won. I can't wait for the next book and a chance to see how the lessons learned in this book follow through. I hate to finish these books when I have a year to wait for the next one.

The central coastal California town of San Celina is home to chief of police Gabe Ortiz and his wife Benni Harper. Although Gabe was once an undercover narcotics officer in the big city, receiving an adrenaline high from collaring a drug dealer, he is content now to work in this quiet college and retirement village. However, whenever a homicide does occur, it seems that Benni is in the middle of it, much to Gate's consternation.

Homicide is the farthest thing from Benni's mind now. Her best friend is about to marry her cousin (two people she cherishes) and her grandmother is getting married after forty years of being a widow. Benni is all caught up in wedding preparations when Gabe's ex-lover comes to town determined to win him back. To get her mind off her heartache, Benni becomes involved in another homicide investigation, one that is fifty years old.

It's interesting to see Benni solve a case that is over a half a century old using old newspaper reports and historical documents. Although STEPS TO AN ALTAR is billed as a mystery, it is as much a romance with Benni having an admirer who finally comes out of the closet. Told in the first person from Gabe and Benni's point of view, readers are able to feel close to both protagonists and understand their feelings and actions.

Harriet Klausner

Oops. I meant, Earlene Fowler does it again. It's just that Benni Harper seems so real, just like the cowgirl next door...

It's February, 1995, and thirty-six-year-old Benni Harper is at it again. Like many super women of the '90s, she finds herself juggling more than husband, job, family and friends. This time around she's dealing with weddings (note the plural), an old, unsolved mystery, the unwanted attentions of a sheriff's deputy, plus Gabe's former partner who makes no secret of wanting him back in her life.

If you enjoy a well written story, a lead character with old-fashioned guts and heart, and yearn for more than a simple who-dun-it crime novel, read Agatha-Award winning novelist Earlene Fowler's best book yet, Steps to the Altar. A lot happens in the likeable little town of San Celina, California, and Benni Harper always manages to end up with her boots in it.

After Steps to the Altar, buy Fool's Puzzle (nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel of 1994) et al., and read the entire series in order from the beginning. That way it won't seem so long before her next book comes out and you'll learn that Emory and Benni are 11 and 12, respectively, in 1970 and Benni turns 37 in March of 1995. :) Happy reading!

is that I have already finished it. I loved it and couldn't stop reading it.

If I could rate this latest from Earlene Fowler with more than 5 stars I would. I was so busy hoping for Bennie to find Maple, hoping for Gabe to clear his fog, hoping for Hud to be a good guy, hoping for Del to "git along little doggie," and for the bridal showers and weddings to come off without a hitch, that I hated to see this saga in Bennie's life come to a close. But not really! I totally enjoyed this book and am anxious for the next.