From Publishers Weekly
A likable protagonist and a fresh, carefully crafted plot make this debut in a new mystery series an enjoyable, albeit occasionally preachy, romp for the CBA market. Recently widowed PI Callie Webber, who takes solace in quiet canoe trips on Chesapeake Bay and does volunteer work in her free time with indigent women, lands in the thick of a murder investigation after the body of a client's boyfriend turns up in the trunk of the client's car. The key to solving the case seemingly lies in a promotional wooden nickel. The author occasionally tells instead of shows, and the faith passages can feel forced (God, for example, is touted as "the Master Paddler"), but the novel finishes on a strong and surprising note.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Callie Webber, of Clark's
Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels, is a young widow, an attorney with a job reminiscent of that old TV show,
The Millionaire--delivering cash to people her boss, the mysterious "Tom," deems worthy. Through her church, she also works with battered women. Returning from one of her missions, she finds herself investigating the murder of ne'er-do-well Eddie Ray, the boyfriend of one of the women she has helped; simultaneously, when she is finally to meet "Tom," he disappears. Clark portrays Callie's loneliness and stoicism so ably that the effect is sometimes boring, but this is a well-done mystery otherwise.
John Mort
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