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DEADLY TRAIL
by Marilyn Meredith
Hard Shell Word Factory,
140 pages
$10.95
ISBN: 0759904618


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Deputy Tempe Crabtree, of Bear Creek, is planning on getting married. She was finally able to arrange for some time off in the middle of the summer so she and her fiancÈ, preacher Hutch Hutchinson, along with her seventeen year old son, Blair, could finally become a proper family. The last thing Tempe needed was a murder investigation that could possibly postpone her nuptials. But of course, that's exactly what happend.

Nick Two John, from the Yanduchi Indian people, has a reputation in Bear Creek for being a drunk and a troublemaker. Tempe had arrested him many times in the past and she's arresting him again because Nick Two John slit the tires of a logger. Nick and some others of the Tribe were protesting the loggers cutting down trees in the area. Tempe, also a Yanduchi Indian, understands why Nick is protesting, but it's up to her to uphold the law, so there she was driving Nick to jail, once again.

Tempe hadn't thought about the Indian part of her heritage for a long time and as she was bringing Nick to jail he rebuked her for not knowing much about her Indian ancestry and traditions. Nick then invited Tempe, her son, Blair, and her fiancÈ Hutch, to attend one of his nature trail walks at the Bear Creek Inn when he got out of jail.

As Tempe pulled up to the jail, Nick wanted her to let him go. When she refused, he told her that he had some information for her and if she had him arrested, she and the rest of Bear Creek would be sorry. With those foreboding words, Tempe deposited Nick into the jail.

Shortly after, Nick was bailed out of jail by Claudia Donato, the wife of Andre Donato, his employer and owner of the Bear Creek Inn. Claudia and Andre's marriage was not a good one. Andre flirted and bedded many women and Claudia was having an affair and was in love with Nick Two John.

The next day Tempe, Hutch, and Blair went on one of Nick's nature trail walks where Nick talked about all the blooming flowers and explained how poisonous most of them were.

That night, Andre Donato was found poisoned! His tea had been made with the water from the vase that had held some of the poisonous flowers.

All evidence pointed to Nick as being the murderer. Who else could know which flowers were so poisonous that drinking the vase water they stood in, would be toxic enough to kill? It was also convenient that Nick and Andre's widow were having an affair. But something didn't seem right to Tempe. She had a strong feeling that Nick did not murder his employer. All she has to is prove it and find out who the real murderer is. But she has to do it before her wedding.

DEADLY TRAIL is the prequel to the Tempe Crabtree Mystery Series. Author Marilyn Meredith takes us to the time before Tempe and Hutch were married in this cozy mystery. As in Meredith's other books, the reader is told quite a bit about Indian lore and it's fascinating. The author also delves the problems that Tempe and Hutch have because of the differences in Tempe's Native American religious beliefs and those of Hutch, who is a Christian preacher.

This novel is filled with an abundance of characters who are happy Andre is dead. Because he was considering selling the Bear Creek Inn and the land around it to some developers, many people wanted him dead. Others wanted him out of the picture because he was having affairs with their wives. And then there was the obvious couple that wished him ill, Nick and Claudia.

Marilyn Meredith once again gives us a lovely murder mystery set in a small community where everyone knows everyone else.

It's a fun read and the outcome is satisfying.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, September 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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