EMBARKING ON MURDER

Reviewed by Natalie Wyant

Celebrating her big 5-0 is bad enough for Elsie “Beanie” MacBean, but toss in getting tangled up in a murder investigation and nearly becoming another victim to the body layer of the frigid waters of Lake Tahoe (the “body layer” is the layer of bodies that never seem to be found–where the bodies get hung up under the water)–and it really takes the proverbial birthday cake!

To make matters worse, among the passengers of this Fourth of July dinner cruise is the wealthy, demanding and very irritating Ivy Diggs. Ivy and her much older husband are aboard for their anniversary, and by the loud voices emanating from their table, it becomes obvious that it is a not-so-happy occasion. Ivy treats her pampered pooch better than her newlywed husband and soon finds herself swimming with the fishes.

Everyone is quite content to accept the event as an accidental drowning. Everyone that is, except Beanie. Beanie has doubts and sets her sails to discover what really happened. She and her beloved slobbery basset hound, Cruiser, track the case with a bit of help from her devoted and somewhat overprotective friend, Sheriff Cassidy.

Things really heat up and get downright distracting for Beanie when she meets the strikingly attractive blue-eyed Professor Crispin who is studying some mysterious lake events of his own.

Together, Beanie and Cruiser find that there is more than one mystery lurking below the deep and dangerous waters of Lake Tahoe in this puzzling adventure.

Dog lovers will find Cruiser and his other canine cohorts a delight to read about. Beanie is a woman surpassing mid-life and is very comfortable with her four-legged companion and with herself, well, maybe not quite. Both characters are very likable and easy to relate to.

Don’t let the author’s smooth writing style and her ability to lull you with the imagery of the lapping lake waters fool you. She provides a twist or two in this cozy quest that will keep you guessing!

Kudos to Sue Owens Wright on this book in the Beanie and Cruiser series, Embarking on Murder. I shall certainly be on the lookout for the next in this enchanting series.

Armchair Interviews agrees.