Author: Ada Madison
Published March 6, 2012; Berkley paperback
"The shiny padlock on Charlotte's bag called to me. I kept thinking about it, as if it were a logic puzzle I hadn't been able to solve.
Not my business.
On the other hand, Charlotte was gone forever and her bag was in my possession." (ch. 4)
Comments: For anyone who likes math puzzles, logic problems and brain teasers, this is the cozy mystery to read. The novel is peppered with them, as the main character Sophie Knowles, professor of math at a small Massachusetts college, does puzzles in her spare time or to while away the hours. That is, when she is not solving crimes. In this novel, Sophie tries to find out why her good friend, librarian Charlotte Crocker, was killed by being made to fall from a high library ladder. Also, Charlotte had left a duffle bag in Sophie's office, which contains an important clue to the mystery.
I liked the character Sophie and her friend Ariana, found the plot interesting, but think the book slowed down in the second half. There was too much detail, for instance, on Sophie's boyfriend Bruce and his mountain climbing accident in New Hampshire, and a few too many conversations with Ariana and detective Virgil. The ending was a surprise, however, and one I could not have expected, the mark of a good mystery.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book.
