The Rampant Reaper
A Charlie Greene Mystery
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Millhiser outdoes herself yet again in The Rampant Reaper, an effort sure to leave both loyal fans and new readers clamoring for the next installment of this unconventional and engaging series.
Literary agent and amateur sleuth Charlie Greene accompanies her mother to her great-great-aunt's funeral under great duress--after all, Charlie herself is adopted, and this part of her extended family has never made her feel that welcome. Plus, it's in Myrtle, Iowa, about as far from Charlie's life as a high-powered California literary agent as one can get. But she agrees to go. How bad could it be?
In one of Marlys Millhiser's quirky, offbeat mysteries, that is the world's biggest rhetorical question. Because someone may be offing the elderly in this midwestern town's only nursing home, and it falls to Charlie, the suspicious outsider, to put all the pieces together. Dealing with a passel of wacky relatives she's never met and a vicious killer as well won't be the easiest task she's ever been handed, but Charlie's good humor and recently acquired investigative experience should be more than enough to finish the job. That is, if she can escape the prying eyes that seem to peer at her from every corner of the tiny town.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Charlie Greene, high-powered West Coast literary agent, single mom and amateur sleuth, leaves the glitzy world of Los Angeles for a small Iowa town in Millhiser's (Killer Commute, etc.) seventh amusing and wacky tale of murder and mayhem. Much against her will (after all, she is adopted and has had no contact with her birth mother's family), Charlie has agreed to accompany her birth mother to the funeral of her great-great-aunt in Myrtle, Iowa. Relatives she has never even heard about come out of the woodwork, and when the two travelers are sent to stay at the dilapidated family homestead with Uncle Elmo, Charlie begins to wish she'd stayed in L.A. Much to her chagrin, a blizzard and a rash of unexplained murders at Gentle Oaks, the local nursing home, keep Charlie in Myrtle and involve her in a bizarre mystery that has to do with the town's namesake, Myrtle herself. An investigation that becomes personal leads to an almost catastrophic conclusion. In dealing with the locals, especially the geriatric inhabitants of Gentle Oaks and their antics, Charlie displays the characteristic wry wit that has endeared her to her fans. Although Charlie's slowly evolving family tree is complex and confusing, a strong plot and a vividly described setting will engage the reader from start to finish. This read is as satisfying as a Midwest dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn and carrot cake.
