Skeletons in Purple Sage
I am running an occasional series of reviews of cozy mysteries by writers who are not LDS. Since not all of us have easy access to an LDS bookstore, it’s nice to know who we can read when we walk into our local bookstore or library.
The title makes the book perfect for getting in the Halloween mood:
Skeletons in Purple Sage
Barbara Burnett Smith
St. Martins Press
January 2004
Jolie loves to throw a party. This one is particularly special for her, because it’s honoring a beloved doctor who is retiring and a close friend who is returning to town after a long absence. Plus, the governor has decided to drop in for a quick visit during the party and now hundreds of people plan to be there. Her best friend’s house is just perfect for such an event.
Unless, of course, it’s pouring down rain so heavy some areas have been evacuated and a pipe bursts in the hosts’ home, causing the house to be covered in water just hours before the party begins. So where do you hold the party? How about next door….in the home of one of the honorees’ ex-husband and new wife? Could this party get any worse? It could, of course, because this is a murder mystery, so when the doctor leaves early, he is found dead. But was it murder or suicide? Jolie is determined to find out. Dr. Bill is special to her and her family and she is certain he didn’t kill himself at the start of a long-awaited retirement. Between caring for his widow, trying to puzzle out her relationship with her mother, helping a friend keep track of a wandering parent with Alzheimer’s, and entertaining a house full of flood victims, Jolie has her hands full. And then, just to complicate matters, the second wife who hosted that fateful party disappears. Did she run away or did someone want her dead?
As I’ve mentioned in a previous review, Barbara Burnett Smith is a master at creating believable and memorable characters. Jolie is one of my favorite mystery heroines, a bit insecure about herself, but brave enough and sensible enough to fight through the challenges of her past and present. She charges in headfirst when faced with a murder she feels obligated to solve for whatever reason—a reason often motivated by love. In some ways, she makes me think of a grown-up Trixie Belden. Jolie’s efforts to work through past and present to become the person she wants to be are as gripping as the mystery itself and give the books a depth often missing in series fiction.
Burnett Smith, the author of the Purple Sage books, was killed when she stepped out of a car during a storm to retrieve a rescued dog she was assisting. When I posted on a mystery list about my search for clean cozies, she emailed me about her books. I responded that I was a fan and had all of her Purple Sage books except her last one, and she promptly sent me an autographed copy to enjoy, and included a beaded bookmark she had made herself. Over the days following her death, I read of many who had been touched by her many kindnesses to others: encouragement to timid new writers, gifts to fans and even to complete strangers struggling with challenges, and her volunteer work. She's greatly missed in the world of mystery fans.
Notes for LDS readers: This is not, of course, an LDS mystery, so the characters are not LDS. There is swearing, but it's mild. Jolie is married, and there are no sex scenes in the book. This is a comfortable read for most Latter-day Saints.
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