Stamped Out

I enjoyed this story and the reality of the characters--some whined, some were gay, some were mean (not likable), and some were clueless; in other words, they were drawn from real life. And I was at the end before I solved the case and realized the true villain. There were some descriptions of collage-type cards, but nothing that I would have a tendency to refer to again. I will read the others in the series.

I enjoyed this mystery. April moves to Pennsylvania from San Francisco, so I like the setting of the mystery. She knows the state well. I also liked the way the gay characters were treated, April's dad, ED, and his partner, Vince. I hope they get more scenes in the next book. The Stamping Sisters seemed to have bonded more by the end of the story. So maybe they will get to help out April more in the next one. One mystery series that excellently portrayed it's gay characters was Christmas is Murder: A Rex Graves Mystery (Rex Graves Mysteries) by C.S. Challinor. Good to see more gay characters in mysteries. Maybe one day they will be the lead instead of only in the supporting cast.

April Buchert left Aldersville, Pennsylvania as soon as she could to escape the constant scorn of the townsfolk caused by her father coming out of the closet to move in with his lover; which destroyed her mother. She moved to San Francisco where she married Ken and expected happily ever after; that ended when she realized her spouse stole from their clients and their business. Her father asks April to work at his business Retro Reproduction; she accepts his offer because she needs the money as Ken the thief left her in debt. They are hired to restore Mirabella a home belonging to snobby high strung Mrs. Harcourt, who treats the lover, father and daughter like indentured servants. To April's chagrin her male partners accept it because they too need cash. Mrs. Harcourt orders them to demolish the Castle guesthouse. When they dynamite the facility, they are shocked to find a skull in the fireplace. Forensics proves it to be one of the workers who everyone thought he just left when he stopped coming to work, a common practice amongst laborers. Local cop Henry York, who hates the Buchert family, arrests April's dad. Though she has never done anything like this before, April vows to restore the family name by finding the real killer. This first Stamping Sisters mystery is a great amateur sleuth tale is a fresh tale mostly due to April's parents and her dad's lover as they bring uniqueness to the extended family connotation. The protagonist is a likable, loyal yet flawed person who wants to do better and be more tolerant. April is attracted to Mitch, the nephew of her dad's odious client, and he to her; but since Ken she is relationship phobic and technically still married to the thieving louse. However, before working through her myriad of conflicting feelings, rescuing her father comes first; the only problem is no one has a motive, the cop could not care less whether he caught the killer, and the real culprit is watching. Harriet Klausner