Monster in Miniature (A Miniature Mystery)

Margaret Grace's "Miniature" series has come of age with its fifth cozy. Halloween provides the perfect environment for Lincoln Point, Californis'a latest "whodunit." Fortunately, Grace has let miniaturist Geraldine Porter and her grand-daughter develop into complete characters whom the series' readers have grown to know well over the preceeding books. She seems more comfortable with them and lets them proceed naturally in this holiday setting to the uncovering the murderer and the reasons behind the killing. Along the way, the reader learns more about Geraldine's town and friends and the seemingly ever-expanding cast of neighborhood characters. A very enjoyable read.

This is the 5th in the Miniature Mystery series. Geraldine Porter and her granddaughter Maddie come across a corpse (Oliver) in a Halloween display. They set out to find the killer. Along the way, several personal problems occur for Gerry (was her deceased husband "crooked" in his architectual dealings and did he have another child before their son Richard). They are assisting Skip (a local policeman and Gerry's nephew) with the murder investigation. This assistance gets them into some pretty tight and dangerous situations.

It's Halloween and Geraldine Porter and her granddaughter Maddie are busy working on miniature witches and ghosts for their haunted dollhouse. When they aren't working on their masterpiece, they are taking in the sights of the decorated streets of Lincoln Point wondering who will win the contest for best house. They come up to the home of Sam & Lillian Ferguson where a lifelike scarecrow is resting on the steps. When anyone gets too close, the scarecrow is supposed to scare them with sounds and movement. However, when a few teenage kids got close this scarecrow didn't make any noisesor move, as it wasn't a scarecrow but the body of Oliver Halbert. Oliver wasn't liked much by some of the more influencial people of Lincoln Point as he was working on digging up information to prove that bribes were made and shortcuts taken by city members and builders. Geraldine vows she will not get involved in another murder investigation, but Maddie has no intention of not doing any investigating on the Case. It may all be moot as at first it appeared that Oliver committed suicide. Of course it's never that simple. No only is Oliver the brother of her miniature crafting buddy Susan, but Gerry's nephew Skip (one of Lincoln Points detectives) comes to her with news that her late husbands name is found on the list of "possibles" that Oliver was working on. Anyone that knew Ken Porter knew he would NEVER do something illegal, and Gerry will do everything she can to prove just that. But what happens when she finds some unsettling things among Ken's things. Is Ken the man she thought he was? And what secret was he hiding? Geraldine has many suspects in her hunt for the truth, including Peter Lynch, a major contractor in Lincoln Point and the Ferguson family (who owned an airplane parts repair business and also a focus of his investigation) whose front stairs Oliver was found on. With the help of Maddie, girl detective wanna be and Henry, boyfriend wanna be, Geraldine is bound to get to the bottom of this gruesome Case. As Geraldine works to preserve her husbands good name, she painstakingly follows the clues that are left out, like candy on Halloween night. One of the things I love the most about the miniature series is the relationship between Gerry and her granddaughter as it reminds me so much of my own relationship with my grandmother. While I am not a miniaturist, I find it fascinating to read about how they make such things as hard hats, a sawhorse, witches and ghosts. Ms. Grace does a wonderful job of leaving clues hidden along the way. She creates just enough spookiness to make any Halloween lover go BOO. Monster in Miniature is a charming cozy that will have you feeling like you're back visiting with friends you haven't seen in a while and anxiously awaiting the next time you get together.