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FOOTPRINTS IN THE BUTTER
by Denise Dietz
Delphi Books, September 1999
227 pages
$21.95
ISBN: 096633972X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

At the 30 year reunion of the Colorado Springs High School of 1968, Ingrid Anastasia Beaumont, wins a ticket to the next day Broncos game. While she is cheering her team to victory, a camera picks shows her on television at the moment a fellow alumnus, Wiley Jamestone, noted artist, is murdered. Ingrid and her set at school had been active in the alternative lifestyles that were so popular at that time.

Ingrid, Patty who is now Wylie's wife, Ben Campbell and Stew made up a singing group, The Clovers, in High School. Wylie was the manager. Just before Stew went off to Viet Nam, Ingrid had promised him she would never sing again until he returned. He never did, and she never sang again until Wylie instigated a reunion of the group, even going so far as to pull in Dwight Cooper, a crippled ex-jock as the fourth member of the quartet.

Back in the late 1960s, Ingrid had been Rose Stewart, a songwriter with at least one hit. After a bad marriage, she returned to Colorado, supporting herself by scoring B movies. The whole group, Ben, Patty, Wylie, Dwight and his wife Alice, have intertwining relationships dating back to high school days. Dietz cleverly gives us all the information necessary by having Ing relate the backstory to her (older) friend, Cee Cee, so we don't have to stop reading to figure out who's who.

The book is filled with elephant jokes, bad puns, sexual innuendo and is, in general good fun, especially when Hitchcock the dog, who really should have a larger role in the story, one that befits his size (retriever, setter, great dane mix), gets into the act. The people are distinctive, the mystery is intriguing, and Denise lets us know that even though we may grow older, we don't have to grow up.

Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, October 2001

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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