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Quiet, touristy Port Silva, California is not so quiet these days. The rift in America over whether or not to go to war in Iraq has also split this small town. So far the protests have been peaceful. When the anti-war protesters are denied access to a park that was recently used for a post-9/11 memorial, there is a very large, organized, and quiet march. Until darkness falls and the weather gets nasty. Then there are sudden outbreaks of violence between the few marchers still in the park, and those who have been heckling all along. In the fracas, two men go over the bluff and into the ocean. One is Danny Soto. The other man is not known to anyone in town. Danny Soto has been living with Grace Beaubien, a young, ardent, and determined musician. She hires Patience Mackellar to find out about Danny; he's been in town about two years and nobody really knows anything about him. Grace is convinced that Danny is still alive. Patience has also been hired by the Flynn family to find one of their own, Peter. His wife Allie is not well, and thinks he's just gone off on one of his not-unusual jaunts. The problem stems from the discord within the family over the prospective sale of the family ranch to developers. Allie is worried that this may be more than just a few days off to get his head screwed on straight. Patience farms out the Soto case to her daughter, Verity. Verity is in the middle of getting her new-to-her house ready to live in. This means remodeling, not just redecorating. One knows this is fiction because absolutely nothing has gone wrong with the whole business. There are more deaths, one of which is obviously a murder. Sean Flynn (yup, same family) was one of Danny Soto's few friends. To be more exact, Danny was one of the few people who could stand to be around Sean, who was a major pain in the butt. Sean was killed after Danny went over the bluff, so the connection is tenuous at best. In a town as small as Port Silva, it could really just be coincidence. Verity and Patience conduct their inquiries amid all the routine goings-on of grown women living together with a small child (Sylvie, who is not related to either woman, but lives with them), and each woman with a romantic interest. Verity is also trying to decide if she wants to go back to cooking as a profession -- she's just not sure she can be as objective as Patience when it comes to investigating. FAMILY BUSINESS is the latest in the Port Silva series. It is not necessary to read the series in order; it probably makes for a better grasp of some of the relationships and backstory, but it isn't mandatory. The strong Hispanic undertones in FAMILY BUSINESS add a certain veritas to this California setting. It's a good cozy mystery for a rainy afternoon: good plot, interesting characters, nice setting, and good writing.
Reviewed by P. J. Coldren, May 2006
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