This e-book reissue of a 36-year-old mystery is still fun to read….
I had read the eight books in this series in paperback, back when they were written, in the 1980s and 1990s, and liked them all. Now, I am happy to have received a review copy of a new e-book version of the first title in the series, The J Alfred Prufrock Murders. And three decades on, having had first-hand experience with aging parents in retirement communities, and also that much closer to retirement myself (!!!), it was more fun to read even than I remembered.
At its heart, Prufrock is a cozy, set at the Camden-sur-Mer retirement community, and with two elderly ladies, Angela Benbow and Caledonia Wingate (and some of their friends), as the main protagonists. And once the first body is found, Lt Martinez from the Camden police, and his sidekick Charles “Shorty” Swanson, get involved, developing a nice relationship with the ladies. At the same time, though, author Corinne Holt Sawyer doesn’t pull any punches on the challenging realities of aging, both health-wise and financial, so it’s not entirely a cozy. A few more bodies soon follow, and it turns out that several of the residents have dicey pasts, creating some nice red herrings. But eventually the culprit is identified, and things reach a satisfying ending.
Prufrock does show its 36 years of age just a bit, with slightly different mores than I would expect if it were written today. But the writing is sharp, the characterizations are apt, the plot keeps you guessing, and I recommend it for anyone looking for a quick beach or airplane read.
Finally, my thanks to Farrago Press and Net Galley for the review copy. And I’m also happy to note that Farrago appears to be coming out with the rest of the series – or at least, the first five as of now…
Buy: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada