Fatal Deduction

Plot twists galore, a wonderful historic setting in Philadelphia, family dramas including a pair of twin sisters who are different as they can be, a difficult-ex-wife and extended family issues and most of all, a God of second chances who truly does make all things new. What I loved most about this book was the way the Christian message was woven so neatly into the text, didn't feel like an afterthought, and never felt jarring and forced. And the mystery kept you guessing from the first moments when Tori finds a dead body on her doorstep all the way through to the last second. I can't wait to read more mysteries by Gayle Roper.

I enjoyed the story of two sisters who must share a small Brownstone for a few months in order to inherit their Aunt's estate. It was a fun afternoon's read, and I enjoyed not only the story, but the twists and turns along the way.

I read this book in one afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. Libby Burton and her twin sister, Tori, don't have much in common. Libby has always thought of Tori as vivid, and of herself as bland. Most of the time they don't even like each other. Then their great-aunt Stella dies, and has left the sisters her Colonial row house in Philadelphia, with instructions that they have to live there--together-- in the same house-- for six months. Talk about having to earn your inheritance. The action really heats up when Libby stumbles over a dead body on the front stoop with a crossword puzzle addressed to Tori on his chest. Things go from bad to worse when Tori resorts to her usual game of competition, trying to win over Chloe, Libby's thirteen-year old daughter. Tori denies she knows anything about the murder, but more crossword puzzles arrive, and Drew Canfield, their handsome neighor complicates matters by being underfoot all the time. A fascinating mystery with a cast of characters I'd like living next to me. Well, all except Tori. A little of her would go a long way. Clever and well-written with an ending that will leave the reader smiling.

"I opened the front door at 5 a.m. on a July Thursday and stepped into murder." With this opening sentence written by Gayle Roper, you can expect excitement, and you won't be disappointed. Gayle Roper takes readers into the world of Libby Keating, Libby's 13 year old daughter Chloe, and the extreme ups and downs of Libby's life. Libby got pregnant as a teenager and never did get married, so this is a story of a single mom, who is now a devoted Christian, whose family and especially her twin sister, Tori, treat her badly. I am a gardener, and appreciated what Libby said, while looking at her flower box. "Life's like a flower box, isn't it?" She looked at him. "The brilliant blooms of joy and the past-their-prime moments of pain. You can't have one without the other." Little does Libby expect the mayhem and tests of love that she will face. Kidnapping, Tori's dangerous job at a casino and her mysterious boyfriend, threats to Tori in the form of foreboding crossword puzzle clues, a charming single dad who becomes Libby's neighbor, culminating in a wild rescue attempt by a mismatched group including a senior lady with a pistol in her purse. Did I mention a potential love story developing between two wary people? Stolen jewelry and gambling debts? A cute relationship between Libby and her teenaged daughter? Pick up a copy of "Fatal Deduction" and see how this all plays out.

As the story opens, we find twin sisters Libby and Tori Burton moving into their Aunt Stella's old Philadelphia home. Aunt Stella has required the estranged twins to live together for six months in order to inherit the home and the aunt's sizeable estate. Not a problem for most twins who are often in sync with one another, but Tori and Libby have very little in common and frequently find themselves in turmoil, often as a result of Libby's faith and Tori's lack there of. Tori is right at home in the big city but Libby along with her daughter Chloe are more comfortable in the suburbs. Imagine Libby's fright when on the first morning in the house, she stumbles across a dead body on their doorstep. A dead body holding a crossword puzzle that implicates her twin in the murder. Though not a fan of her sister or her lifestyle, Libby pockets the clue to protect Tori from a murder accusation. And keeps protecting her as more puzzles arrive in interesting ways. Drew Canfield--neighbor, Ben Franklin scholar, father to teenager daughter Jenna and the stories love interest--partners with Libby and the pair works through serious life issues all the while moving forward on solving the interesting crossword puzzle mystery. Not only does a special relationship develop between Drew and Libby but Jenna and Chloe become fast friends, too. Though classified as a suspense book and there is a suspense plot as the main story, I found Fatal Deduction to focus more on interpersonal relationships artfully depicted by Roper. Roper attacks issues like divorce, parenting, family betrayal and underhanded attempts to buy affection of an impressionable teen. A story like this one, filled with dysfunctional families and the problems caused by their behavior, could be overpowered by the issues, but Fatal Deduction doesn't bog down in heavy character studies. The story moves along at a fast pace and keeps your interest until the very end, keeping you rooting for the characters as they work through their struggles. This is a well-crafted story that you won't want to miss.