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ENCORE TO MURDER
by Bill Stackhouse
iUniverse, November 2002
272 pages
$17.95
ISBN: 0595256244


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

ENCORE TO MURDER is the kind of book you want to curl up with in front of a big fire and just lose yourself in. The story is fast-paced and has a plot that twists and turns just like the snow covered mountain roads of the Catskill Mountains where it takes place. I don’t think it would be classified as a cozy, but it sure has that feel to it. A story that you find yourself lost in the minute you start reading, and can’t take your eyes from until you read those last words.

ENCORE TO MURDER opens just like it says. Right smack dab in the middle of the murder of a beautiful ex-model. Not just a run of the mill ex-model, but an ex-super model.

Veronica Loring lay in front of the fireplace just as beautiful in death as she was in life. The killer now has to figure out how to get out of there and leave no clues. Methodically the killer scans the whole house and makes sure everything is in place. Finally deciding on a way to make Veronica’s death appear as an accident, the murderer goes about placing Veronica’s body, perfectly, in her own car, and making it appear to be a road accident. It would have worked, except....

Ed McAvoy is a former Detroit homicide captain who has been put on medical retirement because of a drug dealers lucky shot that hit him in the leg. Although he still sports a slight limp, and some pain during cold, wet weather, he feels he is much too young to be sitting around in a rocking chair, and is now the Police Chief of Peekamoose Heights, in New York. Peekamoose is a small community in the Catskills Mountains, where everyone knows everyone. Just the quiet little place a guy can still do what he does best and not have to fight major crime everyday.

Ed soon finds that no matter what size the community is he still will have to call upon his skills in order to figure out just what has happened to Veronica Loring. There are a multitude of suspects, and in order to find out just which one did this, he has decided upon an idea that might just flush out the killer. However he needs help from the mayor, the doctor in charge, as well as Veronica’s very best friend Jennifer. Together they just might solve the case.

ENCORE TO MURDER is a story full of mystery, suspense, and with a cast of characters that keep the story moving fast. Through the characters you get to know the victim and learn about her flaws as well as her many wonderful characteristics. Even in death, Mr. Stackhouse, brings her alive.

I also particularly liked the way Mr. Stackhouse brought the killers thoughts into the story. Without giving away a clue as to "who done it?" he put the killer right into the scenes and let you read his/her thoughts concerning what was going on at that moment. It not only allowed you to see where the killer was going at that time, but also gave you chills just knowing that he/she was right there in the same scene as his/her victims.

ENCORE TO MURDER is a cozy mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am really looking forward to more from Mr. Stackhouse. His Ed McAvoy series is a hit and will go on as long as Mr. Stackhouse allows it to, which I hope is for a very long time. I recommend that you go out and purchase ENCORE TO MURDER, get comfortable in a cozy chair, and just sit back and enjoy. It certainly is a wonderful way to spend a cold and blustery winter night.

Reviewed by Sue Hartigan, December 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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