A Hard Bargain

Reviewed by Ana M. Rubio for Reader Views (3/07) Jane Tesh writes a story about a former beauty queen that is trying to give her life a different direction; she is following one of her passions, which is solving mysteries, and is doing it very successfully. Jane Tesh, takes her main character "Madelin Maclin" on a variety of cases, some of them seem very insignificant, but she takes them all with the same professionalism as she would a murder case. "A Hard Bargain" is a very refreshing story, because takes place in a small town where there is hardly anything going on, but when Madeline and her friend come to spend some time there, and she starts her office of investigations, and a movie company comes to town, everything goes crazy. Suddenly, there are all these cases, big and small, even a murder, and under this circumstance, everybody is a suspect, so the small town is not quiet for a while. Jane Tesh gives her main character an easygoing personality. Madeline and her friend Jerry have their personal struggles but they don't let them interfere in their relations with other people, "A Hard Bargain" is a light mystery, easy to read and follow; at the same time it keeps the reader interested and guessing what is going to be the outcome of the investigations. It has some funny moments as well as some dramatic ones. My favorite part of the story is how Madeline insists in clearing a very painful family tragedy involving her best friend Jerry, almost against his will. And she helps him reconnect with his family which, because of the tragedy and lack of communication, had been separated. It has a very emotional ending because a family got reunited after years of misunderstandings and questions that nobody had the guts to ask because they were afraid of the answers. But, after all those years, it took a former beauty queen to untangle all those mysteries. I will recommend "A Hard Bargain" to readers of light mystery with some romance entangled in it along with funny characters that give the story a few laughs.

In Celosia, North Carolina former beauty queen Madeline "Mac" Maclin continues her efforts to make a living as a private investigator buoyed by her recent solving of a murder case (see CASE OF IMAGINATION). One of her cases is personal as she hopes to prove to her beloved roommate Jerry Fairweather that he is not at fault for the deaths of his parents in a fire over twenty years ago; in fact she thinks his sister is the culprit or knows more than she is letting on about the deadly inferno. Mac's other two cases are professional. She searches for inventor Kirby Willet, who vanished without a trace but not before he hid a large cache of money. Her other investigation involves the poison death of director Josh Gaskin at a horror film shooting at a "bat" house inherited by Jerry from his late uncle. However, as she finds a wealth of suspects in the Gaskin homicide, Mac begins to see ties to her other investigations, but doubts the puzzles could mesh so well together. Though difficult to keep score of the support cast as Mac is fully employed with her three cases, she is a delightful protagonist who holds the several subplots together and in fact brings them into a cohesive private investigative thriller. Readers will enjoy the former beauty queen's laments about no respect for her brain, which contrary to popular opinion is four-times her bra size. The inquiries are cleverly designed to bring out the best and worst traits of the heroine. Harriet Klausner