A Puree of Poison (#11)

Everyone is getting ready for the 133rd anniversary of the Battle of Hemlock Falls. Quill is getting the Inn ready, but her sister, Meg, is more concerned about her fiancé, Dr. Andy Bishop. Recently three people died at the hospital. He was their physician. All three were sick, but what brought them to the hospital should not have killed them. Meg is quite concerned about Andy and how he is taking all of this. Then it is discovered that all three dined at the Inn before going to the hospital. Quill interviews the families of the three dead people to try to determine what each person ate, who they interacted with, and what they did while they were at the Inn. She is trying to keep the fact that they dined at the Inn before dying away from her sister Meg. She knows she would not take this news well. There is also controversy about who really won the Battle of Hemlock Falls. This puts the town in turmoil. The Chamber of Commerce, of which Quill is the secretary, tries to iron things out with the reenactors. The many characters that live in Hemlock Falls are so well constructed. I feel as if I know each one. I enjoy the books in this series and always look forward to reading the next book. Quill always finds a way to get herself in the middle of the murder investigations. She often finds herself in danger, and many times brings her sister or a friend along with her. Hemlock Falls is the type of town you'd like to vacation in and the Inn at Hemlock Falls is a place you'd want to stay, except for all the murders! Even so, I'd vacation there in a heartbeat if I could. I highly recommend this book.

I was impressed with this entry in the long-running Hemlock Falls series. There were some interesting subplots: Meg, the chef sister, sometimes comes off as a caricature but not in this book; Miles may be disappearing for about a year on a secret mission...I was also surprised to see some quite current relevant mentions in this book; e.g., Enron, Iraq.A group of Civil War reenactors swarm into the inn at Hemlock Falls ready to reenact the 133rd anniversary of the Battle of Hemlock. Meanwhile, three of Meg's boyfriend's (Andy, a doctor) patients have died mysteriously and he asks Quill to help find out what happened. The two plots are interwoven quite nicely and also wrapped up quite satisfactorily. I hope to see more of this series as I find it one of the more enjoyable ones out there (with the exception of just one or two earlier episodes).