West of Bliss

I love this series! If you like Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie, you'll love Suzann Ledbetter's books. Ledbetter may not write towards comedy as much as Crusie or Phillips, but there's a lot of laughs and the character of Hannah is wonderfully written. All of the books are good, there are no duds in this series, and you will put them directly on your keeper shelf when you are done reading them. Guaranteed.

If you've never read this Suzann Ledbetter series (North of Clever, South of Sanity, East of Peculiar, and now West of Bliss), you've missed at least three enjoyable evenings of reading. In this 4th novel, Hannah Garvey is still the manager at Valhalla, an expensive/selective senior adult living community. David Hendrickson, the county sheriff, is now more serious than ever ("Will you marry me?"). Hannah is still concerned about their age difference but is beginning to consider the "how will we..." items that will occur. At a farewell party for two Valhalla residents, the dishwasher shoots and kills two people, wounds two more (including Ida Clancy) and is then shot by the husband of one of the victims. Even though he doesn't gain by her death, the suspicions of the Valhalla investigators (if you've read the previous boooks, you'll know they are a hilarious group of residents who will go to any lengths to protect Hannah) are raised. Add in the additional fact that Jack Clancy, owner of Valhalla, is acting peculiarly and you are in for an enjoyable evening.Now that Ms. Ledbetter has exhausted the four main directions, (N, E, S, and W), I can only hope that she does the NE, SW, etc. and doesn't stop the Hannah Garvey series.

When she first accepted Jack Clancy's job offer to manage an Ozarks retirement community, Harriet Garvey thought her biggest problem would be boredom. However, Valhalla Springs proves wilder than her former home Chicago. In a very short time Harriet has been on several murder investigations and a few other felonies. However, her toughest problem is her deep feelings for local Sheriff David Henderson even though the Gods must frown upon this couple mating as coitus interruptus is the norm of their relationship.Though she loathes Eulliy Thomlinson, Jack convinces her to represent him at a going away party for the woman and her spouse Chet. Everything seems okay until D.K. Bogart starts shooting at people; Chet retaliates and kills him. Most of Kinderhook County think Chet is a hero, but Dave and Harriet wonder about the incident. Accompanied by her geriatric detectives, Harriet begins to make inquiries while Dave tries to entice her to marry him. He also attempts to coax his love and her band of amateurs to not investigate.WEST OF BLISS is an engaging amateur sleuth tale starring a frustrated hero, a clever heroine, and an insane peculiar crowd of seniors who often steal the plot. The story line is well written, but though the mystery is delightfully disguised, the banter between Harriet and Dave feels stale perhaps because this is the fourth novel in two years without enough movement in their relationship. Still Suzann Ledbetter provides an amusing amateur sleuth police procedural combo that now needs to move to the center of the compass and fully explore the magnetism between the lead duo.Harriet Klausner