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Rating: 
Summary: Rotten to the Core
Review: How cute and homey can a cozy be before it sickens you? This one has all the elements -- the single, inquisitive female sleuth with obligatory cats, the small town with its deep, dark secrets, characters with names like Bathsheba Butterbaugh -- but the end result is an improbable story-line filled with improbable elements, all told in a writing style that sometimes borders on the insipid. Tori Miracle is making a return visit to Lickin Creek, PA. On her last visit a historic building was burned and someone was murdered, as Tori keeps reminding us. Surprise! This time the same things happen. But the doctor says that Percy Montrose died a natural death. That's not good enough for Tori. She's convinced he was poisoned. Why nobody thought to do an autopsy until much later in the book is never explained. There is an attempt at a twist at the end of the book, but it's so lame that any perceptive reader will have seen it coming well ahead of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific!
Review: I love Valerie Malmont's Tori Miracle books. The town of Lickin Creek is vividly painted. Its citizens can be a bit eccentric, but not so over-the-top that they become unbelievable, and they constantly remind Tori, the heroine, that she doesn't quite fit in. This is a well-written series, and I'm eager to read the next Tori book (I think it will be published in early 2003).
Rating:
Summary: An absolutely terrific cozy
Review: Lickin Creek is a small rural community in Central Pennsylvania where theEnglish and Plain people peacefully co-exist, while the Hollow people stay tothemselves in the surrounding hills. Horror novelist Tori Miracle had the honor (or perhaps the misfortune) of visiting the town where her best friend is a resident. During her stay, she investigated a murder and met the man she deeply cares about, Sheriff Garnet Gachenauser. She decides to leave New York to vacation in Lickin Creek to see of she and Garnet have any future together. Her first night back in the tranquil town, she is involved with a new murder investigation. ...... The victim dies in Tori's arms, claiming to have been poisoned. Tori vows to uncover the identity of the killer if it is the last she ever does. Since the murderer wants to remain anonymous, Tori's days may be numbered. She barely escapes two attempts on her life, while two people who might have helped her on her case are found dead. If Tori is not careful, the killer may find the third attempt to be the charm. ..... DEATH, LIES, AND APPLE PIE is a fast moving, entertaining amateur detective cum cozy mystery that captures the duality of warmth and darkness that make up a small town. It is the non-threatening incidents that abound in this absorbing novel that create an atmosphere that allow the reader to bond with the heroine. There are the usual plethora of suspects in the well plotted story line, but most of the audience will not be able to guess who the killer is because Valeri S. Malmont cleverly hides the perpetrator in plain sight. Hopefully, there will be more Tori Miracle adventures in the near future. .....Harriet Klausner
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