Hey Diddle Diddle, the Corpse and the Fiddle

Fran Rizer is a hoot! This is the 2nd Callie Parrish mystery, and you can't help but love the characters in these books. They are just real, no-frills, everyday quirky people. The mysteries are never easy to solve, and you have to wait til the very end to find out what really happened to the victims, and I love that! She has a sharp-witted sense of humor, likeable characters with well-developed back stories, and she leaves you anxious for more stories about Callie and her world. Love this series!

After reading the Tisket A Tasket..., I couldn't wait to find this book by Fran Rizer. She lives up to her funtastic reputation and I heartily recommend reading any and all books by Mis Rizer.

HEY DIDDLE DIDDLE, THE CORPSE & THE FIDDLE Music and murder. What a combination! I read Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Corpse & the Fiddle before my wife did and loved every reference to bluegrass, but then I'm a Bill Monroe fan, and my wife isn't. When I go jamming with my mandolin or to a festival, she sees a chick flick or does "girl things" with her friends. Rizer's characters are so far out that it would be hard to make them real, but she does. Callie and her friends and family are believable. I felt like I knew them from the first book in this series and found them just as fascinating and genuine this time. Callie takes her friend Jane to a bluegrass festival on a South Carolina sea island. The corpse of a dwarf fiddle player tumbles from a bass case on stage. Everyone in the audience saw the musician remove the big stand-up bass from the case when he came on stage. There would have been no room for the body inside with the bass. The case has been in sight since then. This is a locked room mystery with the audience substituting for walls. The plot, with several twists and quite a few red herrings, held my interest. I was also intrigued by the intermingling of real performers and fictional bluegrass musicians. Of course, the book is a mystery, and Rizer likes to tickle funny bones, so non-grasser readers might be cautioned that she pushes the envelope with some of the events at the Surcie Island festival, but she never makes fun of the music or the performers. I rate Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Corpse & the Fiddle as five-star both for the mystery itself and for the venture into my beloved world of bluegrass. My wife, who, as I indicated previously, is more into rock `n roll than bluegrass, says, "I loved the book because I adored Callie in A Tisket, a Tasket, a Fancy Stolen Casket. Since my musical taste leans more toward R & B and rock `n roll, I was afraid that the bluegrass background might interfere with the mystery, but it added to the story. I especially liked the introduction of Rizzie Profit, the Gullah lady, and hope the author makes her a repeat character in future Callie Parrish mysteries."

Who would think that a bluegrass festival on a beautiful island with your best friend would turn out to be one of the worst events of your life? While relaxing in the sun, Calamine L. Parrish (Callie) and her blind friend Jane were anxious for the music to start. But during the blessing something unexpected happened. One of the band members unzipped his bass case and Little Fiddlin' Fred tumbled out--dead. After this unfortunate and suspicious incident, things got worse. The bass player was found strangled. Then Blind Jane went missing and was presumed kidnapped. What in the world can happen next? Plenty, as it turns out. One more quirky idea that fits this mystery is a chapter called "Chapter after Twelve." Callie explains that she refuses--for many reasons--to write a Chapter Thirteen. She feels that if rich folks who build fancy buildings think that elevators should go from the twelfth floor to the fourteenth, then thirteen must be unlucky. Author Fran Rizer gives us lots of interesting characters like Rizzie Profit and the Gullah people. And places to feed our imagination--campgrounds, mortuaries, and cemeteries. But these are nothing compared to the crazy plots surrounding the solutions of all the crimes. I recommend taking this book on vacation with you--unless you're going to an island to listen to bluegrass music. by Doris Anne Roop-Benner for Story Circle Book Reviews reviewing books by, for, and about women

I enjoyed this author's first Callie Parrish Mystery and found this one even better. I truly enjoy stories set in the south, especially mysteries that dip into local folklore and family dynamics that are typical of the region. Callie is an appealing protagonist who exhibits characteristics we all can probably recognize in ourselves, both faults and strengths. Having been raised in the south, in the mid-twentieth century, it is easy to settle into the story and feel that one has known these characters.