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BONE VALLEY
by Claire Matturro
Avon, April 2007
336 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 0060773669


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Lilly Cleary once again finds herself in trouble as she attempts to defend the strange and unusual citizens of Florida. In BONE VALLEY, she finds herself defending two men accused of libeling oranges. While this might strike one as strange, there is a law on the books that makes this act illegal. Lilly is amazed that anyone is taking this case to trial but agrees to take the case as one of the defendants is gorgeous.

While this seems to be a simple case, it is in fact a diversionary tactic of the enemy. Someone wants the defendants tied up with this case so their quest to stop toxic waste is put on hold. Lilly does not believe her clients' claims at first. However, she changes her mind as within days of taking the case, one of the defendants is murdered and the other is on the run.

In order to discover the truth, Lilly finds herself going to environmental protests, an animal rescue and rehabilitation location and a lake full of toxic waste. As the death of one of her clients shows, the people she is up against will stop at nothing to keep their crimes a secret. Lilly must use the assistance of everyone she can in order to catch a killer and stay alive.

Like all of the books in the Lilly Cleary series, BONE VALLEY is full of quirky characters. Unlike the rest of the series, in this book they all seem to be living at her house. A former client, Jimmy, seems to have moved in. He is a grandfather-type with a fondness for the bottle but swears he is going to help around the place and assist her with her cases. Her brother, Delvon, who has a Jesus complex, has come to help Lilly with the animal rescue site and help take care of the sick owner.

Then there is Lilly herself. Lilly is obsessive compulsive about cleanliness. She will not allow anyone to clean her house, as they cannot do it as well as she can. Yet somehow she ends up with a handyman and a pet blue jay, neither of whom are very clean or tidy. She will only eat organic foods and does not eat meat. Yet even with her fear of germs, she is very eager and willing to hop into bed with an appealing man. The contradictions in her personality only make her more interesting.

BONE VALLEY is a difficult book to categorize within the mystery genre, as it does not match the classic definitions of any subgenre. While Lilly is a lawyer, this book is not a legal thriller in the classic sense. Lilly spends very little time in the court room, uses law clerks to do all of her research and finds herself involved in a lot of amateur detecting. This book is not an amateur detective mystery because it is part of Lilly's job to dig into situations. It could be categorized as a thriller but it is more frivolous than most thrillers and lacks some of the tension needed to be successful.

This series is one of my favorites for providing wacky characters and strong stories. Yes the characters are a little over the top and are frequently stereotypes but they keep the book interesting. The books tend to be well written and the plots flow smoothly. I would recommend Claire Matturro's books to anyone looking for a humorous mystery with interesting characters.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, December 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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