Restored to Death (WWL Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite There
Review: A fast read, shivery in spots, that keeps you guessing for a while. Just a bit too much of the "unseen eyes watching" lurks in the shadows. Great that Judge Crain has an excellent relationship with his just-turned-teenage daughter - gives us hope that maybe single parenthood has some benefits. The clues and red herrings are nicely mixed up with interesting tidbits about townsfolk. This is a good beginning for a series and that leaves enough questions to keep the reader looking for the next adventure.
The spelling of Texan's speech rings true to the ear and is fun to say aloud. Bell makes good use of small town busybodies' curiosity to move along the love interest. She leaves out some of the real flavor of the neighborhood so the reader has no sense of what any given character will do or say next.
The two murders in RESTORED TO DEATH are described after the fact so the reader can easily pretend they are bloodless. Even the figure looming over a third victim, tire iron raised, does not inspire fear in the reader. After ignoring lots of real clues and questions, the law personfied by a nice guy sheriff finally shows up in the right spot in the nick of time.
It's easy mind candy but maybe the next one will be better.

Rating:
Summary: interesting small town regional mystery
Review: Post Oak, Texas is a very tiny town where everyone seems to know one another, even their darkest secrets. To the surprise of the locals, the single father of a teen, Judge Jackson Crain, is seeing a visiting outsider preservationist out in the open. However, the county magistrate, like everyone except one person, has no idea who strangled his sister-in-law Dora Hughes and a transient. Jackson investigates, as he needs to know.

Still, in spite of the two murders, the women continue to meet at the Knit Shop to share tidbits about anyone who is not there. On the other hand the men never gossip except over coffee at the Wagon Wheel. While chitchat seems to be the cottage industry of Post Oak, the killer has struck at least twice but will the law figure out the identity in time to stop the culprit before he or she kills again.

RESTORED TO DEATH is an interesting small town regional mystery that brings to life the townsfolk (and a few corpses) so that the reader understands down home Texas. Jackson is a delightful main character, but even he seems overwhelmed by the obvious typecasting that engulfs him. The who-done-it pales next to the ensemble cast so that Nancy Bell's tale is not quite a Biggie.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: mystery doesn't quite work
Review: When his sister-in-law is murdered and his brother-in-law identified as lead suspect, Judge Jackson Crain decides he has to investigate. Ron just isn't the type to brutally murder a woman--even a woman as cruel as Dora. When a second woman is killed, Ron would seem to be off the hook, but Post Oak, Texas is a small town and two brutal murders is a lot. Unfortunately, his investigation seems to point the finger directly at the one person he really doesn't want to doubt, his new girlfriend.

Author Nancy Bell offers a charming look at small-town Texas. The gossip, religious extremism, and kindness all ring true. Bell is also convincing in her description of battered and abused women--who, sadly, seem to make up the majority of the females in this story.

As a mystery, RESTORED TO DEATH is only adequate. It is hard to believe that even a small-town police force would fail to follow up on the connection between the two victims. For me, the resolution was so forced that I kept looking for the last chapter--the one that explained that the supposed solution was wrong and that the real killer remained to be found. Too much of the mystery was left as coincidence and meaningless.