Murder is on the menu at an exclusive restaurant as a mob kingpin moves his drug operation into town. Veronica Howard, stylish owner of a vintage-antique store and her Boston society boyfriend, Harry Hunt, take on a drug cartel that is ingeniously distributing their product.
The fourth book in the Veronica Howard Vintage Mystery series, death comes close to home in this 1980's tale about the food industry.
Murder is on the menu at an exclusive restaurant as a mob kingpin moves his drug operation into town. Veronica Howard, stylish owner of a vintage-antique store and her Boston society boyfriend, Harry Hunt, take on a drug cartel that is ingeniously distributing their product.
The fourth book in the Veronica Howard Vintage Mystery series, death comes close to home in this 1980's tale about the food industry.
Mrs. Violet Thompson was experiencing another sleepless night. The cause of her insomnia was always the same...her son Kevin and his group of unsavory friends. He had become selfish and lazy of late, preferring to spend his days at the pool hall instead of looking for another job, and Violet blamed his behavior on their negative influence. After the plant closed down, most of Kevin's coworkers applied at another firm and were immediately hired. He had never bothered to fill out an application and showed no interest in doing so.
Violet knew her son well enough to realize how easily his head was turned by flash and big talk. The truth was that although she and her husband possessed old-fashioned values and a strong work ethic, they had spoiled their only child. The result was that no amount of nagging on her part seemed to make any difference. One day melted into another without any positive changes.
Violet was a widow now and had to watch her spending carefully. Today she had two housecleaning assignments, both regular customers, and she thanked her lucky stars she was still able to work. Now that Kevin was living back home, her food bill had tripled. Between lending him money that he was in no hurry to pay back, purchasing her weekly lottery tickets,and going to the church bingo every Thursday night, life for Violet Thompson was an ongoing financial challenge.
She stood by the stairs and called to let him know that his breakfast was on the table, gathered her supplies for the day and walked out to the car, crossing her fingers that it would start up without the usual difficulty.
Violet's first job was at the home of Patricia and Robert Vickers, owners of the upscale Bromfield restaurant, Poppies. In the three years that she had been their cleaning lady, she had never minded working in such a beautiful house. Built in the current 1980s minimalistic and compemporary style of concrete and glass, the architectural firm designed it to include all the latest conveniences and innovations. The Vickers had given them a blank check to create a showplace and they did just that, a one-of-a-kind home that made all who saw it envious.
The house was designed in an open floor format, and the centerpiece was a spectacular circular staircase that led the eye up to the cathedral ceiling. Window walls offered sweeping views of a sculpture garden, and the soothing sounds of the waterfall trickling down the north face gave a serene peace and Zen-like tranquility to the property.
The Vickers had invited several friends over for cocktails the night before, so Violet wasn't particularly surprised to see a large mess of glasses and dishes piled up on every available surface. Overflowing ashtrays and empty liquor bottles were scattered everywhere.
She knew from experience that every time the couple entertained, it was to impress, and luckily, the sheer volume of last night's clutter didn't discourage her. She supposed that this party wouldn't be the last one; in fact, it seemed they were hosting even more of these gatherings, each one with more litter to clean up than the previous one. But it was all in a day's work, and Violet couldn't afford to lose a steady job like this one.
Patricia Vickers had left a note on the kitchen table, along with a key to the back door of Poppies, asking her to drive over at 9:00 a.m. sharp and deliver the manila envelope the key was next to. Although the kitchen staff wouldn't be arriving until 10:00 o'clock to start food preparation for the lunch service, the note stressed the importance of Violet leaving the envelope on the butcher block before the restaurant personnel came to work.
When Violet arrived, her car was the only one in the parking lot. She opened the door and looked around, all the while wondering why she had been given this task to perform when there was so much work to do at the house. Once inside, she immediately became aware of how chilly the kitchen was. She put the envelope on the butcher block as directed and turned to leave.
It was then that she noticed that the door to the large walk-in freezer was wide open. She walked over to it and peered inside. What she saw was the body of her employer, Robert Vickers, dead on the floor, his slack mouth and glassy eyes looking very much like the codfish his head was leaning on. Her silent scream propelled her back through the kitchen door as fast as her elderly legs would carry her.
I am an avid reader of mystery stories. The more unique the characters, the better I like them. This story intrigued me as it was noted as a vintage mystery. It is set in modern times but involves a woman who loves vintage items and makes a living off of them. So, if you are looking for a mystery series set back at the turn of the 20th century, this is not a series for you. It's modern with vintage style.
I found the read rather difficult as there was more telling than showing. The entire history of each character was laid out as soon as they were mentioned. I felt like nothing more needed to be said as the rest of their interactions were relatively bland. The reader wasn't given the chance to see them for who they were. The author had told us everything. I'm okay with some tell, but this seemed too heavy on it and really took away from the story.
The sentences were usually very wordy and could have used some editing. I found them to ramble. Along with the excessive telling in the story, the actual plot dragged and seemed to be scattered with attempts at character development. The reader is spoon fed info. In a cozy mystery, I like to be able to see if I can figure out who did it instead of just being dragged along and told what is happening.
This was not a book for me. I highly suggest the author take these books back through the editing process. There is a good foundation here but there are too many issues that will prevent them from being seen. The characters need to be developed more and use the show not tell method to help develop them. Hints at info should be scattered about instead of just laid at the reader's feet. Don't insult the reader by assuming they can't figure it out.