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Catherine Freeman, influential wife of a powerful economist, was gunned down in her own driveway. Louise Eldridge had come to town to cover the Bethesda Garden Club plant sale for her TV series; now she will stay to uncover the killer. DEATH AT THE SPRING PLANT SALE reads rather like a woman's fashion magazine; within the first dozen pages, we will know all about the life, loves, medications, hobbies, and lip gloss color of one of the characters. Almost every new chapter brings a change in point of view, leading to the impression that you're reading articles instead of a novel. And like a fashion magazine, everyone is obsessed with weight. Catherine is fat. We know this because in the first two and half pages in which she is introduced, Catherine's weight is mentioned seven times. When she is reintroduced to Louise, her weight comes up again, three times in as many paragraphs. By strict adjective count throughout the book, Catherine's extra poundage is twice as important as anything else about her. Everyone mentions it, even compliments become condescending. "The woman was captivating, her large size no drawback to her beauty." "The overweight but lovely . . . " This is not a book for anyone who is concerned about their weight. It also isn't a book for the child-free, as another recurring theme is that all women long for children. And frankly, it is not a book for anyone who likes a well-constructed mystery. Cozy mysteries depend on three attributes to work. The first is well-rounded characters. In DEATH AT THE SPRING PLANT SALE, everyone is reduced to a list of repeated characteristics. Just as we are never allowed to forget Catherine's weight, we are constantly reminded of how important Walter Freeman is, how downtrodden Emily Holley is, how domineering Alex Holley is. Louise swans through them all as a beacon of perfection, the only one with both a solid marriage and children, making Emily's life happier by her mere presence and tidily solving the problems everyone else causes with nary a care to her own career, which has apparently been abandoned while she works on the case. The second cozy attribute is a well-constructed puzzle, but there are no wrinkles to this plot. Although they mention the other groups Catherine was part of, we meet no one from the rest of Catherine's or her husband's life. Third, a cozy must be solved by an amateur detective, leaving the problem of the police. They discount Louise's offer of help, with a cop explaining that they have to investigate all leads, not just dig Garden Club dirt. Louise is offended by this -- she considers it a 'kiss off' even after she learns that the police know things she doesn't. They're doing their job, but not only is Louise convinced they're wrong, she also makes their work harder by clumsily stalking suspects, breaking and entering, and tampering with evidence. The grand finale goes on for far too long, with improbable events following impossible ones; like a movie that won't end, new wrinkles are thrown in at the last second to justify a little more action. As the saying goes, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief but not hang it by the neck until dead. DEATH AT THE SPRING PLANT SALE asked me to believe the unbelievable. Perhaps Louise agreed; in the end even she couldn't get away from the club fast enough.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, October 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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