BLACK CATS AND BOONDOGGLES - Janice Bennett
Events Unlimited, Book 3
Cerridwen Press
ISBN: 978-1-41991-307-5
October 2007
Mystery

Upper River Gulch, United States – The Present

Annika McKinley left her accounting job in San Francisco to start an event planning business called Events Unlimited in Upper River Gulch. She lives with her Aunt Gerda and her seven cats to save money. Her current project is the Harvest Festival which is part of Upper River Gulch’s Halloween celebration. She depends on the members of SCOURG, Service Club of Upper River Gulch, to help her run the festival.

On the morning before the start of the big event, Sheriff Owen Sarkisian calls Annika to come down to the park where she had set up a decorative tableau of scarecrow, carved pumpkins, and hay bales. Afraid someone has vandalized her work, Annika goes to the park, an empty lot at the intersection of Upper River Gulch’s only two streets. There she discovers someone has replaced her scarecrow with the body of the owner of the community’s one industry, the Brandywine Distillery. The victim, Hugh Cartwright, holds the remains of a caramel-covered apple from a local business. But that doesn't limit the suspects. Lately, Hugh has argued with everyone, especially those who spoke in favor of incorporating Upper River Gulch. Annika isn't upset only by the murder, but also by the timing. Just what her festival needed, a murder.

Sheriff Sarkisian uses Annika as an investigative consultant because of her accounting background. Annika won’t let herself believe her interest and feelings are anything more than friendship, even though they have much in common, like both being Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiasts. She can’t afford to. Her husband Tom wore the sheriff’s uniform eight years ago when he was killed in a shoot-out with drug dealers.

Upper River Gulch is generally a low-crime area; however, they do have a problem with murder, as this is the third book in the Events Unlimited series. The prose is fast, witty, sometimes poignant, and wraps around a gritty mystery. Annika is a unique heroine, very tall, pleasantly plump, nearing forty and in love denial with a younger man who keeps seeking her out. She is not the only one interested in Owen Sarkisian. Boondoggle, the bloodhound mix owned by the local newspaper editor, follows Sarkisian everywhere.

Author Janice Bennett has written many historical romance novels set in the Regency period. She expands her scope with this contemporary mystery series. After reading BLACK CATS AND BOONDOGGLES, I just have to read the two earlier titles, COLD TURKEY and BUNNY HOP. If, like me, you just love a good cozy mystery, this is a series for you.

Robin Lee