Customer Reviews

Taking the Wrap : A Mandy Dyer Mystery

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It starts out as a straightforward dry cleaning problem. Mandy Dyer's cousin had a coat switched at a restaurant and she wants to get her own coat back. But when cousin Laura is involved in a hit-and-run as she leaves the dry cleaners, Mandy wonders if it could truly be coincidence. Coincidence is stretched past breaking when Mandy walks into an in-progress burglary at her cousin's apartment. With her matchmaking mother riding to the rescue, a hopelessly nerdy reporter falling for Laura, and a hunky detective causing problems for Mandy's heart, the problems look to be getting worse in a hurry.

Photographer Laura's restaurant photos seem a likely starting point. But who would have guessed that a small restaurant could cause so many problems--a man dining with a woman who isn't his wife, another couple confronted with news of the woman's unexpected pregnancy, a woman stood-up by her business partners, and a strange ghost-like double-exposure which could be just about anyone. Mandy presses on in her investigation--although occasionally her motives are more to get away from her mother than to solve the crime.

Author Dolores Johnson delivers a spunky heroine, amusing characters and dialogue, a very different background for her sleuth (I haven't seen any other dry-cleaner/detectives) and a well-written story. I enjoyed TAKING THE WRAP a lot.

While Laura was at the Rendezview Restaurant someone took her coat while she was taking photographs so she borrowed the last coat that was on the rack. In Laura's coat was a role of film she would like to get back and in the stranger's coat is a stamped envelope, a bottle of aspirin and a box of matches. Laura wants her friend Mandy, owner and proprietor of Dyer's Cleaning, to call other cleaners in the area to see if they have her coat. She figures they might be able to identify the other coat owner by tracing the laundry logs.

When Laura leaves the cleaning store, a car deliberately hits her, breaking her le:, Mandy rushes her to the hospital. When Laura is released, Mandy goes over to her apartment with some Chinese food to cheer her up only someone in the apartment hits her from behind. Mandy thinks that her unknown assailant is looking for the photos or the coat and starts another one of her investigations that almost gets her killed.

TAKING THE WRAP is an upbeat, often funny amateur sleuth mystery due to the heroine's mother's visit to take care of Laura and help Mandy in her investigation. All that does is make a bad situation worse when she tells people things they don't need to know. In between her botched matchmaking efforts, Mandy does the impossible and finds the coat that belonged to Laura's friend who no longer needs it because someone killed her. Two other people who were at the Rendezview also turn up murdered, leaving Mandy to connect the dots and find the perpetrator before Laura joins the morgue.

Harriet Klausner

Mandy is a delight and so are the characters around her. She is always getting herself in 'hot' water when she ends up trying to solve a murder. You can't help but like her as she is so human and likeable. It is a fun romp of a murder mystery. Good for a beach, plane ride or fun read.

The Mandy Dyer series just gets better and better. Her character is funny, original and well written. Johnson is a solid writer with a great sense of humor. Keep writing! Haven't read a mystery I enjoyed more than this one in a while. It was light but not trite! Humorous without being silly, and well plotted. Congratulations on another fine mystery.

This definitly has to be one of Dolores Johnson's best efforts in the Mandy Dyer Mystery series. I'm not going to give away too much, but now with that horribly stale relationship with Stan off to the side, there's room for a bit more!

I'm too excited for her next story to see where it goes, hopefully it won't be too long for the next episode.

These are easy fun reads, and I like them as I'm in the dry cleaning business. No serious concentration - just a nice escape from your day.

Well...we aren't going to 'rap' about this as being high level international intrigue, BUT what fun. A quick read and one to surely put a smile on your face with its quick wit and clever lines.
The ladies win the day, albeit we lost a few as we needed murders to solve, and leave you feeling good about how competent women can be. Of course, I doubt in the real world women who live everyday lives are going to be chasing murderers so fearlessly, but there are some clever ideas about using logic and sleuth.
Take the Wrap, unwrap your beach robe and sit on the beach for a uncomplicated rap, oh, I mean read!

I've missed this series and am glad I finally bought the hardcover. I just wish it had come out in paperback so I could've read it a lot sooner.

Mandy is one of the more fun amateur sleuths to read about, and the addition of Laura is a good one. I could've done without Mandy's mother, since the rest of the supporting cast is so strong, but hopefully we've seen the last of her.

Looking forward to catching up with the next book in the series, and hope more are coming (in paperback)!