Cold Clay
Shady Hollow 2 - a cosy crime series of rare and sinister charm
-
-
3.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
A MURDER TO SOLVE. A REPORTER ON THE CASE.
CRIMES OF THE PAST WON'T STAY BURIED . . .
In the woodland community of Shady Hollow, you'll discover a secret. Moose and mice, owls and bears live side by side in civilised harmony. The town has a coffee shop and a bookshop, a haberdasher and a bank. Life is peaceful, until a skeleton is found buried deep under an apple tree. Danger has returned to Shady Hollow.
Ace reporter Vera Vixen only wants a good news story as harvest time arrives with the promise of glorious feasts ahead. But the discovery of the body casts a darker shadow. Soon enough, the coffeeshop's owner is being dragged down to the police station. Vera can't believe gentle Joe the moose is a killer. To get to the bottom of the matter, she will have to dig into the secrets her neighbours would rather leave buried forever . . .
Entertaining and perceptive, Cold Clay is fast-paced and witty, with characters that jump off the page and a hugely satisfying mystery to solve. Once you've met the residents of ShadyHollow, you won't forget them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The pseudonymous Black's lame sequel to Shady Hollow revisits the village of Shady Hollow, whose inhabitants amount to clichéd humans in animal form. Vera Vixen (a fox), intrepid reporter for the Shady Hollow Herald, is at Cold Clay Orchards interviewing the rabbit workers about the coming harvest when bunnies Ralph and Peter uncover the bones of a large mammal. The medical examiner, Dr. Broadhead (a snake), slithers up and determines that the remains belong to a moose. Could this be the final resting place of Julia, a moose who disappeared some years earlier? It doesn't take long for Vera's budding sweetheart, Deputy Orville Braun (a bear), who has learned his detecting skills from The Big Book of Policing, to make Joe, Julia's moose husband, suspect number one. Vera investigates, even though Orville warns her to stay out of police business. This entry, with its obvious culprit and standard-issue plot, shows that giving a character fur or wings is no substitute for an original, well-rounded personality. Even cozy readers will find it wanting.
