Sunshine and Shadow (Benni Harper Mystery)

SUNSHINE AND SHADOW is a little different from the other books in this series. Earlene Fowler takes us back into Benni's early life and her first marriage to Jack. The author switches gears often and intertwines some of the story of Benni and her life with Jack with what's going on today in Benni's life. This is the tenth book in this series and there are many parts that make up SUNSHINE AND SHADOW.The story begins when grandmother Dove marries Isaac. Her new husband moves in with lots of stuff and Dove asks Benni to take back the boxes that she had stored at her grandmother's home. Many of the items are things that had belonged to Benni's first husband, and they lead to Benni's reminiscing about Jack who was killed in an accident. As she sorts through the material, she comes across a journal that Jack had kept and she receives a startling revelation. Emma Baldwin, an old acquaintance and famous author returns to San Celina and she and Bennie resume their friendship. She also agrees to lend Benni a wonderful old crazy quilt to display in the folk art museum where Benni is the curator.Gabe Ortiz, Benni's husband who also happens to be the local police chief, continues to be devoted to his new wife, but the marriage is still a little shaky. The mystery comes into the story when an old friend of Gabe's from the LAPD is killed in San Celina. After that, someone starts harassing Benni, and Gabe is convinced it has to do with an incident from his own past when he was a drug enforcement officer. I was really looking forward to reading SUNSHINE AND SHADOW, but it was not what I was expecting. STEPS TO THE ALTAR, the previous story in this series, left me in a state of uncertainty as to what would happen to Benni's marriage to Gabe and I approached this book expecting a resolution to that problem. At first I felt that this story skirted that issue; however, the more I thought about this book, the more I realized that the author knows that a troubled marriage is not cured overnight. I believe that she decided to give her characters time to work through their marital problems. After all, everyone's life is filled with sunshine and shadow. As usual, this author delivers another good book and tops it off by giving the reader something to think about. This is a skillfully written and very clever story.

Incredibly well-crafted, Earlene acquaints her readers with Jack, Benni's first husband. The story flows between the past and the present, weaving the two together in such a way that readers may get goosebumps by the end.

If you love mysteries, or love quilts (or folk art) and a great romantic story, you will love the Benni Harper mysteries. Ms. Fowler is a great story teller. I can't wait to see what she comes up with in future books in this series. The books are clean but true to life, without a lot of the garbage language that has infested other authors' work. ...Enjoy!

Sunshine And Shadow by Earlene Fowler is the best Benni Harper novel yet. Not only does she manage to use TWO types of quilts metaphorically [the sunshine and shadow quilt of the title AND the crazy quilt], but she also juggles two different [but related] stories from two different time periods [the current period of the novels and early in Benni and Jack's marriage]. The plotting is tight and the mysteries are intriguing. First and foremost, the novel is about relationships. Benni and Gabe, Benni and Jack, Isaac and Dove, Gabe and his old partner, author and reader, and many, many more. Regular readers of the Benni Harper series should read this novel with relish. Newcomers will enjoy the novel, but I would suggest that they start with an earlier novel. I am also pleased to say that due to Ms. Fowler's newest book deal, we have at least two more Benni Harper novels to look forward to [and a non-series novel that will be set on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas].

There is a lot going on in the life of Benni Harper, San Celina's curator at the Sinclair Folk Art Museum and Artist's Co-Op. Emma Baldwin, the author of the teenage Molly Connors mysteries, is back in town and has donated her Crazy Quilt to the exhibit Benni has put together. Benni is delighted that the woman she interviewed in college is back and hopes that they can become better acquainted.Benni's husband, Chief of Police Gabe Ortiz also has a friend visiting. Luke a former LAPD police officer is now a private investigator who is in town on a case and looking into possible family he has in the area. When Luke's body is found with fifteen stab wounds, Gabe takes the homicide very personally. However, not quite as emotionally as when someone starts stalking his wife by messing up her car, sending her threatening photographs and even taking potshots at her. Gabe is afraid that somebody is taking revenge on him by going after his wife but Benni thinks that the stalker is not connected with Gabe at all, but with somebody else in town.Each Benni Harper mystery is better than the previous one because the characters change and grow. Readers see how Benni's seventy-something grandmother adjusts to her new marriage, and how the heroine's cousin and best friend act like marriage is an institution made just for them. For the first time, using flashbacks, Earlene Flower gives readers a glimpse into the marriage of Benni and her first husband and the connection he had to Gabe. SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS is a five star mystery.Harriet Klausner