Loss of Innocence: Loss of Innocence

if your idea of a mystery is a gory police procedural or a gritty cynical big city private eye caper, this book is not for you. this comes close to a traditional british cozy, in that it's more about character than forensics and more small town than big city. the plot is extremely well presented, the characters are well drawn, the dialogue is enjoyable, and there's a cat. and there is also a lot of humor, from laugh out loud to small smile of enjoyment, from almost slapstick to irony. there is a feeling of realism in all these elements. the events and situations that propel our heroine into sleuthing are believable and logical. i have read and enjoyed the author's _sunrise_ as well as this novel, and look forward to reading more. it's a great pity she isn't better known.

I love mysteries, and I'm constantly amazed and disappointed by the number of truly bad ones out there--books that are poorly written, ridiculously plotted, and in serious need of a decent editor. How refreshing, then, to stumble onto LOSS OF INNOCENCE, a smart, funny, book, with believable characters and a well-conceived plot by a writer who actually knows how to write. I loved this book and could not put it down.

In a small South Carolina town, senior citizen Julia Wingate confesses to the police that over five decades ago, she committed a murder. If it was just about anyone else, African-American writer, word processing teac her, sleuth, all around modern woman Troy Burdette would not have even been aware of the situation. However, Julia is the only living relative of her former husband. So being the good-natured sap that she is and as a fa vor to her ex, who she remains friendly with, Troy heads to Carolina in the morning to ascertain what really happened in 1943. When she reaches the beach town, she immediately begins her own murder investigation. She queries Great Aunt Julia and many of the townsfolk as she tries to determine the voracity of Julia's startling confession. Tro y is persistent and once started will not quit until she learns the full truth. LOSS OF INNOCENCE is an interesting small town mystery fiction because of the great characters. Everyone will be enchanted by Troy and the townsfolk come alive as if the reader is actually visiting a small coastal Car olina town. Though the mystery is probably not strong enough for the most radical purist of the who-done-it school of sleuthing, Chassie West's novel will fascinate everyone else. Harriet Klausner