Review: Book two of the prolific Delany's 1950s-set Catskill Summer Resort mystery series finds Haggerman's Hotel manager Elizabeth Grady's resort up to its armpits in drama. Multi-Academy Award-winning director Elias Theropodous has chosen to film a few key scenes of his latest masterpiece in the Catskills, and Haggerman's finds itself swarmed with actors, crew, tourists, ovely-curious guests - even hotel staff who'd rather watch a potential Oscar-winner being filmed over doing theirr jobs. Add to this the local sheriff and a small battalion of reporters from around the country, after the irascible, sexist and overbearing director has what appears to be a heart attack during a hotel event, and is reported DOA at the hospital, poisoned. With the safety level of her resort (not to mention kitchen) under attack, Elizabeth wastes no time in wading into the fray of hidden motives, scandalous backstories, and the questionable morals of movie industry types - most of whom seem to have had at least some gripe with the deceased director.
Delany, one of my favorite cozy mystery writers, here yet again shows off her skills at introducing and handling a rather large, active cast of characters - on all sides of the law - without confusing the narrative or reader. The mystery kept me guessing, thanks also to the author's ability to deflectt blame toward this character one minute, then on another the next, and though I haven't read the first book in this series yet - Deadly Summer Nights - I was also very pleased to get the impression here that we learned a bit more about Elizabeth's past, as well as that of her aunt and mother (who also live at Haggerman's), bringing more depth to those characters. And while at first I felt the revelation of the killer to be a bit anti-climactic, as the explanation behind the motive and means continued, the reveal took on a sense of poignancy that was both unexpected and appreciated. Any complaint here would be nit-picking - I would liked to have gotten more than the occasional reminder or sense of the 1950s setting; I just didn't feel it as much, in general, while reading - but as always with Vicki Delany, this is a well-written, very entertaining mystery with a vivid setting, and characters I look forward to revisiting again and again, in book one and beyond. (Available March 1) 4/5 stars
NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
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