13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartwarming cozy, April 4, 2000
In Eastport, Maine Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree has earned the life she wanted for herself and her son and is contented with her current situation. Jake can even deal with her former husband Victor although she occasionally wishes it were from the other side of the continent rather than in Eastport.
Jacobia, Wade (her significant other), her friend Ellie, Victor, and a few other people go to a restaurant where they run into the town's bad boy, Reuben Tate. Surprisingly, Victor and Tate exchange heated words. Even more shocking is when Jake and Ellie find the murdered corpse of Reuben in the town cemetery. His throat is slit open. The weapon is a surgeon's scalpel traced to Victor,s medical paraphernalia collection. The police arrest the obvious suspect forcing the loyal and responsible Jacobia accompanied by Ellie, to make inquires. They quickly learn that Reuben has no friends but a plethora of enemies elated to hear that the man is finally dead. There are so many suspects Jake begins to doubt she will ever find the real perpetrator but she keeps on searching because she believes that Victor is not a murderer.
Sarah Graves captures the essence of small town Maine with an uncanny insight that turns WICKED FIX into a fun, page-turning read. The cast consists of a horde of eccentric characters that are indigenous to the region. The protagonist is a strong, down-to-earth person who the audience will identify with but they will also wonder why she goes to such extraordinary lengths to clear Victor of the charges against him. The who-done-it is an enjoyable regional cozy that succeeds because Ms. Graves makes the inhabitants of Eastport seem so genuine and alive.
Harriet Klausner
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
By the pricking of your thumbs. . ., May 24, 2001
. . .you'll know that something wicked this way comes, when you pick up this delicious book! Third in the Mainely Murder Mysteries, Sarah Graves just swoops you right into her world of Eastport Maine and doesn't let you go until she's good and ready.
Wicked here is personified by Reuben Tate, a native Eastporter who's come back to visit for the annual Salmon Festival. Or, maybe just to make trouble, at which he specializes with a capital S and a capital T, as well. Actually, he doesn't really need an excuse; he just likes to stir things up. And does he ever!
Jacobia Tiptree is the kind of clever, capable woman most other women would like to have as a friend, and when she hurts, you hurt, also. It doesn't take long in this book for Jacobia to be hurting in a big way. Used to standing on her own two feet, it never dawns on her that her best friend Ellie Carpenter is exactly the same kind of woman as Jake is herself, and the two of them together are formidable, indeed.
Except, of course, when Reuben's evil ways have been passed along to one of his disciples, who enlarges on them in his own unique fashion. Jake and her new love Wade, her son Sam, her former husband Victor, her friends Ellie and George, plus many of the townsfolk appear in this book, and by the end, they'll all be your good friends, too. Or you'll wish they were, just because they're such wonderful people. Even Victor has some saving graces.
This is not a cozy novel, however, and if you prefer non-violent, non-graphic wickedness, then maybe you won't care for it as much as I do. But then, I don't usually like those elements either. These books succeed on every level, however, the writing is purely superb; lyrical and expressive, while the characters are so strong they breathe! You'll be able to smell the sea, it's so much a part of the setting, not to mention the lobster and the salmon and the . . . just another reason for that 'delicious' in the first sentence of this book. I think I've recommended these books to everyone I know. My only grumble is that I can read the book faster than the author can write it. I tried to slow down, but I just couldn't--I HAD to know the who and the how and the why. And I had to know it, now.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Maine Mystery, February 6, 2002
I enjoyed this book. It is the first one in this series that I have read. I plan to read the 2 previous books now as well.
I enjoyed the characters. Jacobia is a smart amateur sleuth. She and Ellie are a great team for investigating. She is a newcomer to the area but was knowledgeable about the area and with Ellie's help got the locals to talk to her.
Her exhusband is an unlikeable fellow and I was glad he wasn't too involved in the story.
I would like to see a little more interaction with her son Sam and her boyfriend Wade.
I felt this story was very good. I did have an inkling as to who did it before it ended, but I wasn't sure.
I recommend this book.
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