Sierra Gothic

Rating:
Summary: Written in a gothic and/or cozy style
Review: Merrill Sanders is currently a resident of San Francisco and has a lively interest in the city's past, both respectable and otherwise. Sierra Gothic is her first mystery. Dry Bones Press is a small publishing company originally formed to publish books on nursing. Jim Ranklin, the founder, eventually branched out into chapbooks and religious poetry, and now, mysteries.

Carla Weber is the amateur sleuth in this mystery. She and her banker husband, Peter, have moved into the Sierra foothills so that Peter could start a savings and loan. Carla and Peter's marriage has suffered because Carla is having a hard time fitting in. When Peter pressures her into going to a tea party given by one of the prominent citizens of Placer Bar, Carla meets the movers and shakers in town and is drawn into local politics. She also agrees to help in the restoration of an antebellum mansion which was built just after the Civil War ended by one of the founders of Placer Bar. In the course of her work, she discovers an old skeleton in one of the closets. This is followed by another murder that is closer to home and several vicious pranks, and Carla becomes an unwitting detective:

"And she couldn't shake the idea that she knew something, that she held the key to the tragedy. Fine, she decided. As soon as Peter let her out of this ridiculous sickbed, she'd look into the problem. She'd talk to all the people in the case on the off-chance that someone would say something that would jog her memory. It couldn't hurt-and it wasn't as if she had anything better to do with her time."

Written in a gothic and/or cozy style, Sierra Gothic is an entertaining and tasteful first effort by Merrill Sanders. The setting is exotic, an old mining town which may or may not have hidden assets. The characters are interesting and well drawn. Carla Weber is a reluctant heroine, which makes her problems fitting in to her new town endear the reader to her. She struggles along with her investigation, and one can't figure out if she is just a flake or is really on to something, but she puts it all together in the end and wins the praises of her neighbors. Sierra Gothic is an able first book with a clever plot. The Civil War history puts a cork on the story line and creates the "gothic" in the title. This reviewer would love to see a sequel with the return of Carla Weber!

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: A Gothic With a Modern Twist
Review: Peter Weber is the manager of the new Cal Equity Savings office in Placer Bar, a historical old mining community in California's Sierra foothills. His neurotic wife Carla left friends and a good job in New York. She escapes her loneliness and depression by fishing instead of mingling with the women in the community and helping her husband's business. In an effort to mollify Peter, Carla agrees to help Bronwin Stauffer restore the old Davis Kettering Mansion. Perhaps Bronwin's husband Owen will borrow from Cal Equity to build his new factory-a factory that will bring jobs and prosperity to Placer Bar. A factory that will destroy the historical character of the town and the tourist trade along with it.

Davis Kettering built his antebellum mansion in California after mustering out of the confederate army. When Davis died, his son sold the mansion and for a while it was used as a boarding house, until the owners abandoned it to the hippies. David's grandson Howard owns the only bank in Placer Bar and his wife Josie is the unopposed queen of Placer Bar society-until Bronwin Stauffer moves to town.

Under the house's spell, Carla begins the restoration project by measuring each room in the mansion. There's a discrepancy. The hall isn't as long as it should be. Carla removes the wall paper and finds a linen closet. In the linen closet she discovers the mummified body of a murdered young man.

Vandalism and arson plague the mansion restoration project and, convinced the local police aren't doing all they could, Carla mounts her own investigation. She succeeds, but not before there is another murder.

Merrill Sanders is a master of characterization. She has managed to create a heroine so real and yet so neurotic that one moment you want to protect and encourage her and the next you want to shake her or slap the silliness out of her. Sierra Gothic is a well written mystery. The plot is riveting. The clues are so well hidden, the solution comes as a complete surprise. Ms Sanders is a young author on the rise. Keep your eye on her.