Heaven Preserve Us

Perpetual disappointment Phillip Heaven, a man described as having "horrible delusions of adequacy and [who] fell short of even that" is the unlikely philanthropist leading Heaven House Hotline, a referral phone center located in the small village of Cadyville in Washington State. During her first week, newest volunteer Sophie Mae Reynolds learns the phones, acquires a personal stalker, and unwittingly is left the sole witness to Phillip Heaven's last whispered words, "Threat. Meant it." Now what is a good amateur detective to do with that? Phillip Heaven had been receiving threatening messages. A day prior to his dramatic demise Phillip had invited Sophie's boyfriend Detective Ambrose Barr over to his place for dinner and an unofficial consultation. Now Phillip is dead and Barr's life hangs by a thread, both infected with botulism toxin. With Barr out of commission and local law enforcement preoccupied by the Cadyville Creep, the name given to an attacker of lone women in parking lots, Sophie takes it upon herself to investigate. Methodically Sophie questions and considers each villager who makes home canned preserves. She dodges angry retorts from home cooks incensed that their canning is now under suspicion and at the same times does battle with her own personal stalker. While Barr is peacefully recuperating Sophie carefully constructs a case from seemingly unrelated sources such as: a long ago story of a cunning mother's unpunished vengeance killing, tidbits of information from the local police chief's elderly outspoken mother, and her own knowledge of home canning. Soon Sophie knows the identity of both the killer and her stalker but how can she bring them to justice? McRae's cozy mystery does require some suspension of disbelief as do most literary or TV cozies. Of course one has to wonder how Sophie can get away with questioning folks so blatantly and why local officials often forget their policy of not releasing private information. So many residents of Cadyville make their livings by crafting/artisan work, (without apparent poverty,)that one wonders if health care insurance is government provided in Washington state. Issues like these aside I purposely read these type of works for escapism and McRae's small deviations from reality did not grate on me as it might have a reader who prefers the hardnosed stuff. I thought the use of questionable canning practices was a clever device, one new to me. A fun quick read that will lift your spirits.

Lye in Wait was a fun light hearted mystery that left me wondering what Sophie Mae was going to do next. Well I was not disappointed. Heaven Preserve Us was even better. I enjoyed the craftyness of this mystery and how the plot twisted and turned. I am looking forward to further adventures of Sophie as she is quite a character.

I had a blast reading this book! Ms. McRae has a witty writing style that holds my interest and makes reading fun ~ what a concept! I enjoyed the twists and turns of the mystery and felt the story moved along at a quick pace. Once again, she had me guessing until the end. I can't wait for the next one, I think it's called Spin a Wicked Web and sounds great!