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HE WHO DIES
by Wendi Lee
St. Martins Press, June 2000
256 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0312208944


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

As a long time mystery fan and reader, when I started reviewing, it was with some trepidation. What if I wrote a bad review of a book written by a friend? Would they forgive me?

Fortunately, I seem to have excellent taste in friends; or maybe my friends all write well. I met Wendi Lee several years ago; she and her husband, artist Terry Beatty, shared many things in common with me and my significant other, Stu and I liked her immediately. I was therefore a bit anxious when I finally read The Good Daughter, the first in Wendi's Angela Matelli series. This is a good series.

Matelli is, yes, another female private eye, but she is a very believable character and her creator has set up some very interesting situations for her to tackle. While there are some standard things that show up in the books (I'm really tired of fussing mothers who want their independent daughters to marry up and turn out babies), over all, the stories move well, the pacing is interesting, and Angela is a p.i. you would hire if you needed help.

In He Who Dies, Matelli's mother comes to her with a problem. Angela's brother, Albert seems to have disappeared. This is odd as Albert is always in contact with his mother, but it's more than a random act; Albert is the family secret. While every one seems to know or knows the secret, they all pretend otherwise. Albert is a Wise Guy; he's connected with the Mafia, so his disappearance becomes frightening to the Matelli family.

The family's own history - Angela's mom dated a man who is now a big-time Mafia boss, comes into play in the book set in Boston and around Providence, Rhode Island. Lee is very effective in portraying this area - one I know well from living there. Angie checks out Albert's apartment, and finds a dead body - not that of her brother, but clearly, something is very wrong. Is Albert being set up? Did he kill the man in his apartment or was the man killed to send Albert a message?

Angie works all the angles to try to find Albert who shows serious intentions of going legit; he runs a toy factory to manufacture last seasons' big selling toy, Itty Bitty Kitty. Of course, going legit is not that easy when you're involved with the mob and they see you making money. But Angie is smart and determined; she sees more than people think she does; this is a part of the country that often still underestimates women. And they don't know quite what to make of Angie, an ex-Marine with her own private investigator business. She's sharp tongued and impatient - not necessarily bad traits when you are dealing with mean cops and mean criminals. She takes risks, she's brave and caring. She takes interesting cases. She's worth your time. --

http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe - Stu & Andi's "The Roscoe Page" http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Original cartoon silk-screened t-shirts - some Sherlockian, Wodehousian & others still available. Check out the new 'Roscoe Store' pages at CafePress! We now have an assortment of imprinted items with original Stu Shiffman art: http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=roscoestore - "The Game's Afoot!" Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=roscoestore2 - "Nero Woof," a Funny Animal version of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe. "Rex Trout takes notes on Nero Woof". http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=Roscoestore3 - "I Love a History Mystery!" Ancient Roman detective. http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=Roscoestore4 - "I Love a History Mystery!" Medieval mysteries.

Reviewed by Andi Shechter, July 2000

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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