The Fruitcake Murders

The Fruitcake Murders by Ace Collins is set in 1926 and 1946. In the opening Jan Lewandowski is a candy maker who is heading to his factory to get a present he had hidden there for his daughter. On the way he sees a man leaving Geno Lombardi’s grocery with paper sacks full of items. Jan notices that his fruitcakes are not in the window as Geno promised. Jan goes into the store to speak with Geno and finds him with a knife in his back. Jan, in a bad move, takes the knife out of his back and holds it. He then checks the cash register getting blood on the money. Then in walks a cop who accuses Jan of murder.

It is near Christmas in 1946. Lt. Lane Walker is an ex-marine turned homicide cop. He is at the house of Ethan Elrod, the district attorney who was found dead at his desk with a knife in his back. The knife did not kill him. He was actually killed with a blow to head from a tin of fruitcake (I guess that is one use for it). Ethan Elrod was a notorious good guy. Who wanted him dead? Tiffany Clayton is a reporter with The Chicago Star. Tiffany and Lane have a history (they kept making dates and Lane kept not showing up for them). Tiffany was to interview Ethan that evening for a story. Now Tiffany has a bigger story. Two more people are killed in the same manner. Will Lane and Tiffany be able to solve the case? Who wants them dead and where did they get the old fruitcake (I bet you can guess whose fruitcake it is).

The Fruitcake Murders is a book that is trying too hard to a book from the 40’s. There is a lot of 40’s lingo thrown in like dame and doll (it was just overkill). I found The Fruitcake Murders to be a slow paced book. Besides what I mentioned above there is also a Santa scam and a mob boss. I give The Fruitcake Murders 2.75 out of 5 stars. I think the story had potential, but the execution was lacking. I think with a little more editing, the book could have been better (that is just one person’s humble opinion). The mystery was easy to solve (as well as figuring out what happened to Jan’s children). One thing that I found odd was instead of staying “Lane said” it would read “the cop”. It was just strange, and it was sprinkled generously throughout the book.

I received a complimentary copy of The Fruitcake Murders from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was fascinated with the variety of personalities in the three main characters: Lane Walker, Tiffany Clayton, and Bret Garner. There was some overlapping of traits amongst them as well as many differences. I especially liked the way Tiffany was able to put both of the men in their places at times. It was apparent to me that even though there was friction between each pair there was a lot of respect also.

The mystery itself was so well developed and slowly unfolded that I was quickly caught up in it. I was feverishly trying to sort the clues out so I could solve the case before the unveiling of the solution. There were a number of humorous situations and verbal put downs interspersed throughout the story.

I was captivated by all of the details about life in 1946 that were included. I really enjoyed the description of how cars were started at that time. I wish my parents were still alive so I could have them read it and confirm the accuracy of it.

I received a free eBook copy of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.