NP? beach books

[Doug Millison]

[...] August means it is time to get serious about reading those beach
books, and these three new mysteries are the perfect ones to tuck in
with the sunscreen, sand buckets and sangria.


Look out, Stephanie Plum, Bubbles Yablonsky is back! Stephanie may
rule in New Jersey, but Bubbles, the tube-top wearing, Camaro-driving,
self-described last "Polish-Lithuanian Barbie doll in Lehigh,
Pennsylvania," has no match in her neck of the woods.

Readers met this bright, slightly trashy and outrageously funny
beautician/nookie reporter/amateur sleuth in last year's Bubbles
Unbound, which the Houston Chronicle praised as "riotous... a strong
debut." Now author Sarah Strohmeyer has written Bubbles in Trouble
(Dutton, $22.95), and the world of the Amish will never be the same.

Bubbles's friend Janice has gone missing the day of her wedding and
the uncle with whom she lives is found dead on his bathroom floor: his
skull has been bashed in, and his classic Rolls Royce is missing.

Bubbles decides to look for the runaway bride, and her search takes
her to Whoopee, Pa. (located halfway between Intercourse and
Paradise), where she is forced to go undercover as a simple Amish
widow from Ohio. So, no more hair spray, Spandex or makeup--sort of
like Dolly Parton in the role of Mother Teresa. Then she encounters
some unsavory characters, including a drug lord and some unscrupulous
theme park developers.

The supporting cast of characters is definitely a colorful one: a
shoofly pie-obsessed Dutchman; photographer Steve Stiletto, Bubbles's
love/lust interest; a chocolate-baking neo-Nazi; and Lulu, her very
amorous mother. Also cleverly worked into the plot are some useful
recipes--a hangover cure and cuticle softener--all made with vinegar.
The Amish are very resourceful people.

It all makes for a wild and wacky ride, a rollicking laugh-out-loud
adventure. As Kiki Olson says in the St. Petersburg Times: "The plot
moves at breakneck speed…[and]for those who like belly laughs strewn
in with body bags, this is the one to take to the pool." [...]

For those who prefer their mysteries to have more of a historical
slant, Barbara Hambly's character Benjamin January may be just the
ticket. Wet Grave (Bantam, $23.95) is her sixth book to feature the
former slave and Creole surgeon who, despite his many accomplishments,
is still considered a second-class citizen in New Orleans of the
1830s.

It is a steamy July in the Crescent City. An elderly black woman, once
rumored to be the mistress of pirate Jean Lafitte, is found slashed to
death in a back-street shanty.

January remembers the woman from 20 years earlier--a blazing ebony
beauty, exquisitely gowned, well-cared for. What brought her to such a
low, lonely and violent death?

Angry and sad because no one is doing anything, January begins to
investigate on his own. He quickly discovers the murder was not a
random act of violence but, instead, one of cold-blooded
premeditation--which makes it all the more puzzling.

Add in elements of newfound love, a harrowing escape in the swamp and
rumors of a slave revolt, and Wet Grave becomes the best of
page-turners.

"Hambly's descriptive ability is nothing short of astonishing," writes
Katy Munger in the Washington Post. "With equal authenticity, she
makes you feel as if you are raising champagne glasses with the rich,
lost in the heart of a cypress swamp, trapped in the center of a
raging hurricane or winding your way along a dark and dangerous New
Orleans street. Add in a plot that includes family rivalries, buried
treasure, hungry alligators and mysterious plantation owners who
haven't been seen in public for over 20 years, and you've got an
unadulterated winner...every word...[is] beautifully
written."--Judi Baxter [...]

from:
PW Daily for Booksellers (August 1, 2002)