Catalogue of Death: A Miss Zukas Mystery

I really enjoyed this book! Miss Zukas is a gem, and the books keep me laughing.

Miss Helma Zukas, intrepid librarian, is very much looking forward to a new library building for Bellehaven, Washington. The site for the new building has been generously donated by Franklin Harrington, a prominent Bellehaven citizen. An unusual snowstorm hits town, but Miss Zukas is determined to get to work, whatever the difficulties. She arrives and is greeted by a skeleton crew and a visit from Mr. Harrington himself. Franklin decides to visit the library building site, but unfortunately there is an explosion and the elderly philanthropist is killed. Miss Zukas' boss, Ms. Moon, is concerned that Mr. Harrington's heirs may not want the library project to continue, so she asks Miss Zukas to talk to them. Soon, Helma is gathering information about the agreement between the library and the Harringtons and is also trying to find out who killed Franklin. The more she delves into the Harrington family, the more secrets she finds out about them. Author Jo Dereske has created an interesting character in the prim and proper Miss Zukas and she injects just the right amount of red herrings to keep things interesting,

My anticipation may have ruined part of my enjoyment. This is the first Miss Zukas book that I've had to wait for - so expectations were high. This was not my favorite one. Helma was the same as always; practical, purposeful and in the end, solved the mystery. Each of the characters were written consistently from the other books. The story flowed well and kept me turning pages into the night. Long-standing relationships progressed slowly or not at all; Wayne Gallant and Helma, Ruth and Paul, Helma and Boy Cat. There was less character development in this one than in the others. Once again, the cover has little to do with the content. The cat was never in the library or had bloody feet. And the card catalogue didn't figure largely in the mystery either. The reason why this isn't my favorite and it didn't get 5 stars is that the ending was a let down for me. It seemed anti-climatic after building up to the end point all those pages and the "culprit" was a disappointment as well. It didn't seem like the stakes were high enough in the end. This ended up differently from the other Zukas mysteries without the nail biting finish. But it was an enjoyable read besides that. I'll still look forward to reading the next in the series and will hope that my misgivings on this book, won't happen in the next.

I am relieved that Jo Dereske is writing her Miss Helma Zukas mysteries again and that the out of print ones are being printed again (though at too slow a pace). My only frustration with the series is that Helma, pardon me, Miss Zukas, and Chief of Police Gallant are not progressing very fast in their relationship! Foreplay is fine, but this reader is getting impatient for more than the occasional date where their thighs touch accidentally. I might be able to believe this self-restraint of her, but not of him with his Baltic blue eyes and hard thighs and grins. Men just don't wait this long! Otherwise, the series is still a delight. I enjoy the regional flavor, so the blizzard appealed to me.

Hooray, a new Miss Zukas! Helma's at it again, with more reason than usual for plying her investigative skills, since the deaths involved are related to the new library building site. Watching the careful back and forth of the relations between Helma and the chief and Helma and Boy Cat Zukas is fun, even if I sometimes want both to progress faster. I can't blame Helma for wanting to keep Wayne on his toes a bit, though, and you just can't hurry a cat. I've already told several fellow mystery readers that the new Dereske is out, and good, and plan on keeping my personal copy away from the grabbier ones!