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Tori Miracle has agreed to be the temporary editor of the Lickin Creek Chronicle while the editor recovers from surgery, to house-sit for one of the local eccentric women. (Lickin Creek seems to have more than its share of eccentrics) and is manipulated into having the Chronicle publicize the local college's fund raising efforts. Since Lickin Creek is near Gettysburg, of course the fund raiser will involve re-enactors of Civil War vintage, and of course things go wrong, and Tori is almost killed before the denouement. Valerie S. Malmontžs series about transplanted New York novelist Victoria (Tori) Miracle in the small town of Lickin Creek Pennsylvania, is not really cozy. Too much happens, dead bodies abound and Tori or someone close to her, usually gets hurt. She does have cats, so maybe this is really a cozy series. Malmont's characters are not-quite-over-the-top. They are mostly just slightly off-center, but in a loving way. Therežs no malice in any of the good guys and itžs really hard to determine who the bad guys really are. Therežs lots of well digested Civil War history, as there should be in a story that takes place near a famous battlefield, as well as meticulously imagined local legends that are completely believable. One has to suspend disbelief just slightly...there are really some very strange people living in Lickin Creek, but only slightly. Malmont does her research well, and hides the bones well. This is a fun, fast book, as are the previous two in the series DEATH PAYS THE ROSE RENT and DEATH, LIES, AND APPLE PIES. In fact, the series is as close to an English Village series as is possible on this side of the pond.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, July 2000
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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