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Over 40, overweight, and over the notion that she has to live up to any standards but her own, Odelia Grey is the cozy heroine for women who are comfortable in their own lives and skins. THE CURSE OF THE HOLY PAIL is her second outing, sequel to TOO BIG TO MISS. During the course of her paralegal work, one of Odelia's clients takes the opportunity to show her his prized collection of lunchboxes. Centerpiece of it is the prototype called the holy pail; what would have been the first of the celebrity-picture lunchboxes if it had ever been put into production. When she gets back to the office, Odelia receives a shipment of the work she'd discussed with the client and a Zorro lunchbox she had admired. The next thing she receives is news that her client is dead, possibly by murder, and that the holy pail is missing. Odelia is in the middle of everything; not only was she one of the last people to see Sterling Price alive, but also nobody believes that she hasn't run off with the holy pail. And as if theft and murder weren't enough to keep the plot ticking along, there is the question of the legal maneuverings surrounding Price's company and the never-solved mystery of the murder of Chappy Wheeler, the TV cowboy pictured on the prototype. I have to confess that TOO BIG TO MISS didn't capture my attention, and I'm always wary when the author's picture shows that they have based the character closely upon on themselves. But I was pleasantly surprised by THE CURSE OF THE HOLY PAIL. The characters and the plot, like the heroine, are well-rounded. Odelia is neither a model of all things perfect and wonderful, nor smarter than or dismissive of the detectives. The first is often a problem when authors write themselves into the story; the second is a pet peeve of mine in the cozy genre. (Jaffarian wins more points by finding a new way for Odelia to get ahead of the official investigation.) The pace never sags because there are at least five sub-plots running through the story, two of which don't have anything to do with the holy pail. This makes sure that things stay interesting. My main complaint is that the writing can be clunky at times. ("I . . . looked into my eyes as they stared back from the mirror. The green was dulled with sadness." and "A reporter, young, handsome, and mahogany colored, was...") Otherwise, this is a good mystery for someone who likes cozies with some brain and complexity to them.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, January 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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