Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshing laughs, romance and a mystery - summer bliss!, May 29, 2000
Like the first swim of summer, Suzann Ledbetter's EAST OF PECULIAR is a refreshing splash of laughter, romance and mystery! Hannah has had it. Kissing her high-pressure advertising executive job in Chicago goodbye, she says hello to Valhalla Springs, a retirement community in the Missouri Ozarks. Thinking she's found a place to rest and recoup, Hannah instead finds herself in the deep-end of a murder with an unlikely victim, and way over her head with the handsome local sheriff! I found myself laughing out-loud while reading of Hannah's predicaments and her wry view on life. As a newly turned forty-year old woman myself, I related to this 43-year-old heroine's 'younger-man' dilemma. I also loved the various residents at Valhalla Springs - an eclectic collection of some of the most loveable retirees you'd ever hope to meet! The mystery and danger in this story is perfectly blended with laughter and romance - giving the reader non-stop entertainment. I found the author's sense of humour and fast-paced plot impossible to put-down, and it was with regret that I said good-bye to the residents of this fictional corner of the Ozarks. Grab up EAST OF PECULIAR and take a vacation from the everyday in Valhalla Springs! I did, and I loved every minute!
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real zinger of a read!, July 13, 2000
Suzann Ledbetter has done it again, this time with a rip-roaring mystery -- her first -- and I'm looking eagerly forward to the others in the series! Who killed the retired schoolteacher with her own rolling pin? Hannah, the new caretaker of Valhalla Springs, an upscale retirement community, is confronted with the body before she has her bags unpacked. What's a girl to do? Solve it, of course, although this is somewhat difficult when the community's computer system has been "requisitioned" by the mother of its owner, people keep making extra keys to the locks on your front door, well-meaning residents insist on "fixing" your plumbing and electrical appliances -- badly -- and the rinse you just put on your hair has turned it flaming red.Hannah meets her intellectual match in David, the solid-as-rock, handsome (and totally yummy) sheriff. Helped and hindered by a wonderfully detailed cast of quirky old-agers and townspeople, this delightful hero and heroine try to solve the crime and end up falling for each other. EAST OF PECULIAR is full of the flavor of the Missouri Ozarks, observed by a master storyteller with a keen eye and ear, right down to the nuances of spoken language and the inner workings of a small Missouri town. I simply loved this book! It's a terrific mystery that's cheeky and surprising, warm and witty, and I read it in two sittings. I can't wait to see what Hannah and David will get up to next!
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A funny romantic drama, April 21, 2000
After more than two decades of working at a high pressure job at a Chicago advertising agency, Hannah Garvey decides to quit the rat race. She accepts a position as the resident manager for the upscale Missouri retirement community of Valhalla Springs because the place is just beyond Reclusive and in the center of Serenity County. She knows that this job will finally allow her to relax.Her first week on her new job requires Hannah to reassess her thoughts of peace and quiet when someone murders an elderly resident. To her surprise, Hannah finds herself attracted to the head of the homicide investigation, County Sheriff Dave Hendrickson who is seven years her junior. Her being much older disturbs Hannah, but Dave wants to spend quality time alone with her. However, a second murder keeps him busy, especially when the senior citizens turn vigilante. Readers who like their humor served up in an Irma Bombeck style will appreciate the eccentric EAST OF PECULIAR even when the comedy turns occasionally flat. The personalities of the elderly and their actions are a major reason the story line is so enjoyable. Although the romance adds to the fun, this contemporary will appeal to mainstream readers. Harriet Klausner
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