PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH MYSTERY
VALERIE S.MALMONT
ISBN# 0-373-26528-X
May 2005
Worldwide Mystery, Division of Harlequin Enterprises Limited
225 Duncan Mill Rd, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9
Paperback
$5.99 U.S./$6.99 Can.
298 Pages
Mystery
Rating:
Tori Miracle is in Lickin Creek finishing her book. The quiet small town has not exactly
welcomed her, but she is determined to fit in while she is there. Although she has been
blamed for several mishaps, including the burning down of the historical society's
building, she volunteers to write up descriptions of various homes for an annual house
tour.
While touring one such home’s grounds, she and her best friend, Alice-Ann, discover an
old skeleton wearing a tuxedo. Because of the importance of this tour to the charity it
supports, they decide to keep it a secret until after the tour. When the tour ends and it
comes time to report their findings, Alice-Ann backs out and leaves Tori alone to take
the brunt of the community’s wrath for besmirching the local, legendary love story.
Determined to find the truth, Tori starts asking questions and digging for clues. Who
could be responsible for hiding the skeleton? What secrets were covered up by this?
While continuing to tour the homes, she comes across a collection of sneakers and the
diary of the grooms. Reading the diary unearths the groom’s foot fetish and his
unnatural proclivities and appetite for young boys. Immediately turning this over to the
acting sheriff, she is dismissed as a thrill seeking outsider hell-bent on defaming the
music teacher of forty years ago.
Meanwhile, it is discovered that an escaped convict may be headed to town after his ex-
wife. He has a secluded cabin just off the Appalachian Trail. It is assumed he will hide
out there. After interviewing the ex-wife and checking out the abandoned cabin, Tori
stumbles into several giant anthills. After being treated by the local hospital, she comes
home to discover a cryptic note in her underwear drawer. Who would leave such a
warning?
Enjoying a Saturday musical gathering with the whole town in attendance, a discovery is
made of a skeleton stuffed in an old trunk along with a bridal veil. Believing this to be
the other half of the ill-fated bridal couple, Tori questions the older inhabitants,
inadvertently alerting the killer or killers. Did the same person do this too?
While interviewing various town folks for the newspaper, several mishaps plague her,
making Tori start to believe that someone wants her either shut up or worse, dead. Will
she ever get to the bottom of this mystery? Or will she be permanently silenced?
Ms. Valerie S. Malmont has written a story ripe with questions. The storyline is
believable, the pacing steady. I was quite captivated by the varying motivations, and the
characters were entertaining. I really enjoyed this book.
Katherine L. Hunt
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
